Partners
by madbaker
Summary: There's something suspicious going on. Something is spreading, not just in the Wizarding World but in the Muggle one as well. Post-Hogwarts. Dramione.
1. Chapter 1

Nothing could be heard but the scratching of quills and the _tang_ of type writers. At least that was all Hermione Granger paid attention to, signing her name on the last report of the day she finally sighed and rolled her shoulders back.

"So? What do you say?" inquired her red-headed friend. Ronald Weasley looked at her, glanced at the report, then back into her golden eyes which darted at him and back to the typewriter. He smiled, "You weren't listening to a thing I was saying."

Hermione sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. "I am so sorry Ron, we just made that arrest in Surrey-Surrey! Can you believe it? And another child disappearance...things are getting tense here." She looked across her desk at one of her best friends for the last-what was it? Eight years?

The battle of Hogwarts had ended and the Golden Trio, really every surviving seventh year student, had to deal with the after math. After assisting in the cleaning up Hogwarts, the three of them had been immediately directed into Aurors apprenticeships with their experience in Dumbledore's Army and the Order. Ron quickly found it was not for him and transferred into Muggle Relations and Regulations. Hermione and Harry quickly rose through the ranks. Hermione was often reminded of Mad Eye Moody's, really Barty Crouch Jr.'s, remarks that they had the makings of Aurors.

Ron made to respond as Harry Potter, the final third, plopped himself in the second chair in front of Hermione's desk. He pushed up his glasses, "Minister Shacklebolt would like a word with you-what did you do this time?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about Mr. Harry James Potter." Hermione said with a glare. Harry smirked at her.

"Really? None? You haven't freed any house elves lately? Or arrested any unicorn poachers?" Harry teased while Ron raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"Hermione Granger, the notorious rule breaker at large again? I told you we had the worst influence on her."

Hermione huffed while gathering her things. "Oh really, I mean all those things _are_ against the law and isn't that our _job_ catching criminals?"

Harry chuckled, "Yes they are but they are not our department. It is call a division of labor for a reason. Anyway, whatever you did, it must be big for it to go directly to Kingsley. Please make sure you don't get fired before my wedding." He stood up and grabbed her report, "I'll turn this in for you. Meet us for drinks when your meeting is done, usual place?"

Hermione watched him gather her papers as Ron also grabbed his coat. She smiled to herself, she had been afraid they would drift apart after Hogwarts but some ties really don't sever. Which reminded her to owl Luna and Neville soon. "Will do. I honestly haven't stepped a toe out of line." She smirked, "Maybe an award of some kind?"

Harry grinned while Ron laughed, "If anyone deserves one, it's you." She stood up, kissed them both on the cheek and waved them out.

Alone, she smoothed out her blouse and pants. Her choice to wear all black was intentional, being female in such a male-dominated field she felt the need to look like a force to be reckoned with. Not as if being _the_ Hermione Granger, best friend of Harry Potter, who helped save the world wasn't enough. She lifted her satchel to her shoulder and walked out of the Auror office. Most of the desks already empty-many already home with their families.

Running through all the assignments she had been on the last two weeks, Hermione tried to determine what she did that was "in the grey". It was a full ten minutes before she was infront of the Minister of Magic's office door and she could not think of one single thing. She always acted with her heart and was able to explain her reasons for stepping out of line. In fact Gawain Robards, head of the Auror office, and herself had a fine relationship. Quickly noticing Kingsley's secretary was absent, also probably home, she knocked and slowly opened the door. "You wished to see me, Minister?" she cautiously asked.

Kingsley Shacklebolt quickly rose to greet her, "Hermione, please come in." She smiled in relief, he didn't seem angry or disappointed. Hermione walked around his desk to give the tall man a hug. "You are doing well, I trust?"

Hermione nodded, some curly brown hair falling back in her face. She quickly pulled a hair tie off her wrist and tied her hair into a bun on top of her head while taking a seat across from him. "Very well, busy, however, have you heard about the child disappearances? The fifth report came in yesterday."

Kingsley frowned, "Are you following up with them?"

"I plan to, some in the department think it's just a coincidence but there's a feeling I just can't shake. I can't connect them-all different cities. If I get the assignment you from you directly that would mean a lot." Hermione hoped. There was something there, she just needed the time.

He smiled, "For my best Auror? Of course." Hermione sat a little straighter. "There is something I need you to do for me."

Furrowing her brow Hermione leaned forward. The Minsiter cleared his throat, "As you know when you finish your apprenticeship and become a full fledged Auror you can also become a mentor. You have done this quicker than anyone" The brown hair girl nodded staying focused on the the Minsiter's dark eyes. She knew this, she put in tireless hours in her training. "I think it is time for you to have a mentee." he finished.

A grin a mile wide threatened to break out on her sun kissed face. A mentor? One usually didn't mentor until you had at least five years of experience. Hermione cleared her throat, "Whatever you need me to do."

"Excellent!" Kingsley clapped. Hermione turned in her seat as she heard the door to the office open and close. Hermione stood, taking in her new apprentice. Her eyes traveled from his shock-white blond hair to his stern face. Draco Malfoy walked into the office and shook hands with the Minister. Hermione struggled to compose her expression. She _wanted_ to yell, she _wanted_ to shake her very good friend and former mentor Kingsley, and ask him what the _hell_ he was even thinking. She didn't. She tucked a stray curl behind her ear and turned her warm eyes to Malfoy's cool grey. He did not frown nor smile just simply looked at her. It was annoying.

Taking a deep breath, she considered her options. She could refuse to work with him. She could say no after everything he had put her through, for what he put Hogwarts through, why should she have to work with him? But, that would mean missing out on the assignment she desperately wanted to work on.

"Granger" he stated. No emotion came from his voice or eyes. Did she not testify on his behalf in front of the Wizengamot? Did she not have herself and Harry testify on behalf of his mother? They in the end helped their side. He served time under house arrest, maybe just maybe he changed.

"Malfoy" not breaking eye contact, she stretched out her hand. His eyes widened a bit. Maybe he did not expect her to accept him so quickly. That made the two of them. He hesitated then clasped her hand and promptly dropped it.

Once again, Kingsley clapped his hands, "Splendid! Splendid! Now I know of your past and I wish to remind you that the past is exactly that-the past. We learn from our mistakes and move on. There are more important matters at hand. Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger will show you the ropes of the office. The do's and don't's if you will. In fact, she is already working on a brand new case!"

Draco nodded but didn't say a word. He moved his eyes from the Minister to Hermione. She felt his gaze but fixed her eyes on her friend instead. "I will show him to a free desk and we can start tomorrow morning, if I have the assignment on my desk by then." She tilted her head slightly. Draco was mildly impressed, it almost sounded like a command.

Kingsley just chuckled, "Yes, yes by the morning." Hermione smiled. "Now Mr. Malfoy may I please speak to Ms. Granger for one more minute in private?"

Nodding his head again he replied a quick, "Yes sir" before turning and walking out of the office to wait.

Hermione sat down once again when she saw her friend do the same. "I know this wasn't who you had in mind." Hermione made to interrupt, "No, no, just listen. " Kingsley sighed deeply and regarded her for a second. "I know he made many mistakes. You spoke for him during his trail. He has passed the same testing you have and has proven himself for redemption."

A snort issued from her but she kept her mouth shut. He raised his hands, "Please, if anyone can handle him you can." He looked at her meaningfully, "And, no other mentor would take him."

Hermione quickly looked down at her hands. Of course they wouldn't. An ex-Death Eater? Even if he hadn't killed Dumbledore, he had lead the other Death Eaters into Hogwarts. She bit her tongue and finally said, "Fine, for you Minister." He smiled while they both stood up again and shook hands. "I suppose I will find him a desk. Goodnight Kingsley."

"Goodnight, Hermione." He watched her walk out hoping he made the right decision.

Closing the door and closing her eyes Hermione couldn't wait until this day was over. She should be with Harry and Ron right now. Not with-

"Well it is nice to see you again Granger" drawled that familiar voice. No, it was deeper. She rubbed her eyes and slowly turned.

Eyeing Malfoy for the second time today she noticed he looked fairly normal. Black pants and a white button down, what Aurors usually wore. "Always the pleasure, please follow me" she rolled her eyes and started to walk back to the office. Her satchel felt heavier with every step.

He moved quickly to catch up until he matched her step. "So we are meant to be partners? What an interesting development." His trademark smirk was sliding into place.

"Actually I believe you are my mentee, not partner. But interesting is a good word for what is happening." She glanced sideways at him, "Why did you chose this field?"

Draco put his hands in his pockets and shrugged one shoulder, "I thought it would be...interesting."

They walked into the Auror office, it was completely empty. "You must really love that word. Right," Hermione gestured around her, "Basically if the desk doesn't have a name on the plate, it's up for grabs. Pick whichever peaks your _interest_." She smiled to herself. Malfoy rolled his eyes, then started to look.

He walked down a couple of the aisles. The office as a whole wasn't anything spectacular although he knew it would be bustling with activity during the day. At the moment it was a bunch of empty wooden desks. Most of the walls were covered with posters of criminals, case updates, and laws. There were some hallways that branched off and a couple of doors that lead to private offices. He kept looking at all the name plates, he passed some that were blank. He glanced back at the witch who was currently looking at her watch. "I don't see your desk." he called out.

"What?" she looked away from her watch to him. Only 9:30, she had plenty of time.

"Your desk, which one is yours? I don't see it." he ran a hand through his hair hoping he sounded bored. He heard her huff as she started walking toward him, then veered to the right.

"This is my desk." She looked at the stack of papers and books off to the side. She chose this desk mostly because of the location; almost the middle but off to the side near the wall. It gave the opportunity to hear everything without being in the direct bustle.

Draco looked at it and saw an empty desk directly to the left. "I should have known, always look for the tower of books. I think this one will be fine." He said patting the wood.

Ignoring the jab Hermione instead lifted an eyebrow at his choice. "Really? There are plenty of other ones."

"I find the best place to be for information is next to the Know-It-All" there was a slight sneer but nothing like before. The old name wasn't spat with hate, in fact Hermione could swear she saw some laughter in his eyes. No, this wasn't the same Draco Malfoy.

Staying quiet she leaned over and tapped the golden name plate. Slowly the name Draco L. Malfoy engraved itself. The grey eyed man ran his slender fingers over his name. He looked up when the sound of heels clicked away from him. He stared at the bushy mess of a bun get to the office door.

Hermione looked over her shoulder, "Tomorrow morning-7:00. Don't be late."

Taking another deep breath after she left, Draco pulled out his chair and sat behind his desk. He could stay for a bit longer.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer: I realized I didn't make this announcement before but I of course, do not own anything._**

Pushing open the door to a small muggle pub Hermione was greeted by the smell of food and drinks. She scanned the tables looking for her friends finally catching sight of a bright red-head. Slightly surprised how busy it was for a Thursday night she slipped between bodies until she was able to slump into the empty chair at the table.

"Oy-that bad?" Ron asked sliding her a glass of red wine. Hermione took a small sip then downed the whole glass. "Yup, that bad."

Harry widened his eyes and waved for another glass. The brown-hair witch took it when it came and sipped this one slower. "Never in a million years will you guess what Kingsley wanted. Go ahead, I dare you." she closed her eyes hoping the last hour had been a nightmare.

The boys smirked at each other. "You have to train a horde of Dementors"

"Become a Russian spy."

"Shave your head to go undercover."

"Baby-sit that group of giants in the north."

Hermione couldn't hide her smile, "Okay, okay, shut up both of you." She took a deep breath, "You remember Draco Malfoy-"

A snort came from Harry, "How could we not?"

"Well he passed his Auror testing and now is to be partnered with a mentor," Hermione continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "And you're looking at her."

For a moment neither of them said anything. Silence hung around there table while she continued to sip her wine. "Let me get this straight- you have to work with the person who made our life hell for seven years?" Harry stated with disbelief all over his face.

"Wow you guys, Ron _is_ sitting right next to you." Ginny chuckled as she slid into the chair next to Harry, kissing his cheek. "What did I miss?"

That kicked Ron out his silence, "My sister, the comedian everyone!" He took a big gulp of his drink.

Still laughing Hermione leaned over the table to hug Ginny, she barely saw the girl except on wedding business. Being a Quidditch player for the Harpies means a tight schedule. "You just missed me slowly spiraling into the seventh circle of Hell."

"You are officially looking at the Auror mentor of none other than Draco Malfoy." Harry explained raising his drink in salute.

"Motherfucker," Ginny drawed out. "What are you going to do?"

The dull throb of a headache was coming on between her eyes. "It's only for three months. I'll do the only thing I can do, focus on the job. Kingsley is giving me the child-disappearance assignment." Hermione perked up a bit looking at the female red-head.

"Oh I've heard-any leads?" Ginny had concern across her brow.

Harry also looked concerned but for a different reason, "Hermione, we aren't even sure if those case are related. They're in different cities-some muggle, some not. They seem pretty random."

She looked at him and at her other two companions, "Maybe, but when have my instincts been wrong? Anyway, early day tomorrow. Time to eat and run." The four friends ordered food and the conversation drifted into other subjects. They eventually called it a night and headed home.

The next morning found Hermione running into a coffee shop. She still had plenty of time but wanted to get in early to look at the brand new case file. Excitement was coursing through her veins. The man at the counter smiled when he saw her, "Good morning Ms. Hermione, the usual?" He pulled the cup from behind the counter and handed it to her.

"Morning Daniel, you are a saint!" she panted taking the cup and reaching into her purse. He waved her off. "Correction, you are an angel!" With that she dashed out and around the corner to apparate into the ministry.

Pausing to look at the new entrance statue she smiled. Kingsley commissioned a statue that showed a community of magical creatures, including wizards, working together. They were all standing around a table signing a degree of alliance. She looked at her watch, 6:30. Sighing contently she walked to the Auror office.

Only a couple people were in, many just milling about before work, some stopping by before going into the field. Hermione looked over to her desk and saw Malfoy was already sitting at his. The first thing she noticed which was odd, was his hair. It wasn't slicked back but styled like he stepped out from the 1920's. It caught her off guard how good it looked. She frowned walking over to him. Had he really gotten here earlier than her?

"You're early" she simply stated.

"As are you" he lazily retorted. Cold eyes met warm before she saw what was on her desk; a thick manila folder.

Letting out a long breath she put down her coffee and picked up the package to weighed it in her hands. Malfoy stood up beside her. He had also heard of the disappearances and was curious about her attention on them. They did seem random-no pattern save for the children ages. Plus there were only five.

He knew Kingsley was giving him a big chance. Draco was nervous, determined to not fuck up his shot of doing something, _anything_ good. Being partnered with the Know-It-All third of the Golden trio was going to be the test of all time. He looked from her black V-neck, to her black slacks, to her hands not missing the sideways look she gave him taking in his usual dress shirt and black pants. There was a little note written on the folder, _Good luck-KS_.

"Shall we get started?" Turning toward him, she pointed at various parts of the office. "We have our desks, it will get packed starting at 7." She grabbed her cup and started walking toward the back, "This first private office is Gawain Robards' office, head of the Aurors. You probably already met him I except." Malfoy just nodded.

Hermione pointed to a open door with her cup, "Over here we have a small kitchen-like area. Has snacks and beverages and what not." She looked down at her own cup and took a sip. The thought of relying too much on house-elves made her uncomfortable so buying her own morning coffee helped ease her conscience.

The corner of Malfoy's mouth twitched seeming to notice her slight discomfort. He fought back a comment and instead walked over to a mug and filled it with coffee. If his mouth was busy, maybe he wouldn't say something stupid.

They walked toward the back, past the private offices and found some conference rooms. The only sound was Hermione's heels clicking on the stone. She was intimidating sure enough, but if she was a field Auror, Draco wondered, how did she run in those damn things? The brunette opened one door to room with a table and pinboards on all the walls except one with windows to the hallway. She took out the contents of the folder and spread the mass of papers on the table.

"Okay, here's what we have." she started and flicked her hand over the papers. They all lifted in the air, organized, and pinned themselves to the walls. Impressed, Draco could now see there were photos and maps included.

"All the children were age 7. Five are now missing as of yesterday, they seem to be taking them once a month. " Hermione continued pointing at the map, "They from all different locations. I was thinking maybe that's why it's taking so much time."

Draco raised a skeptical eyebrow and took a sip of his coffee. Hermione instantly sighed in defeat, a sound he had never heard from her, she looked him straight in the eye and he knew he was in for a rant. He quickly thought of sitting down first.

"I get it, nobody believes me! Nobody thinks this is important, or relevant, or anything. But dammit I can feel something is going on here." Her face was starting to heat up, she could feel her frustration build. She slammed her fist on the table, "I know I'm not wrong."

He put up his hands, "Okay-okay, I'm on board. The problem is," he looked at the map again, there were markings in Oxford, Bristol, Exeter, Brighton, and Battle. "If it was a witch or wizard the locations wouldn't affect the timing. They could apparate or take a broom. So why does it take so long?"

Draco checked the dates again and found something familiar. "Granger, do you have moon calendar?"

Hermione gasped, ran out, and in a blink of an eye ran back in holding a new paper. She held it up next to the dates. "Full moons. They were all taken on full moons!"

It definitely was not a coincidence. Draco had to agree something was not right. Children just didn't mysteriously disappear on full moons. He took down the address from the most recent location. "Werewolves, perhaps?" he suggested.

Hermione shook her head but stopped, "Maybe, I can't see why. The Ministry has been going through leaps and bounds to include them more. This would set back almost all their cases." She checked her watch. "We should visit the last location."

"Look at that, we're agreeing." Malfoy smirked.

"I'll alert the press." she responded dryly. Waving her hand again all the papers when back into the folder.

When they walked out the office had been transformed from a quiet work space to a chaotic madhouse. Message airplanes were flying overhead, loud talking, arguing jarred the air. Bodies were typing at desks and running between tables. Draco smiled, a real smile, it was the opposite of everything he'd ever known. Hermione caught it, it almost made her smile to see him. She shook off the feeling, it was Malfoy afterall.

The smile was wiped from his face with a simple "Oy-what the _fuck_ is he doing here?"

It had come from another Auror. Draco felt frozen, Hermione stepped up, "What do you think he's doing here Aidan? His apprenticeship."

Aidan stepped up, the office went quiet. He was tall and a group of what Draco assumed were the man's friends moved silently toward them. He draw out his trademark Malfoy sneer, "They had to get some quality in this department. The crime rate has been quite staggering." This wasn't true and he knew it but he was on the defensive- something he wasn't used to.

Lucky for him Gawain Robards just stepped out of his office looking at a stack of parchment. Startled by the quiet he glanced around the room. "Did everyone decide to take a bloody vacation? Get back to work!"

Some people shuffled back into action. Draco heard Aidan mutter, "Deatheater trash" before turning toward his desk. He felt Hermione grab his arm and almost drag him out of the office. She didn't say anything, which he was grateful for.

When they reached the atrium she asked, "Do you have the address?"

He grabbed it from his pocket and handed it to her wordlessly. She grabbed his arm a second time, he noticed how warm it was before the feeling of apparation overcame him.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Author's note: Sorry last chapter was so short! Also thank you for the reviews :)_**

The feeling of stupidity was something foreign to him, having only felt it a few times during his life, usually when he got his marks back and came in second. Of course he wouldn't be accepted by the other Aurors. His conversations with Kingsley and Robards, and hell even Granger's hand shake had lulled him into a false confidence. A fresh start was too much to ask Draco thought bitterly as his feet hit the ground.

Hermione removed her hand and they both looked around. She scrunched her nose and he sneered at their surroundings.

Pulling her heels out of the grass Hermione carefully started walking toward a grey house. "Well, not one to judge a book by it's cover." Weeds grew out the ground, the property looked old and run down. Malfoy snorted at their remark but followed.

"Magic or muggle?" he asked looking at the front door.

"Magic," Hermione replied. Holding her arm out to stop him.

He looked her up and down, "Can't stop touching me, huh? I know I'm irresistible, but please, we are professional partners."

"Mentee and mentor," she corrected automatically. She took out her wand and muttered, " _Revelare_." Frowning, nothing happened.

"No wards? Well this just keeps getting interesting doesn't it?" commented Malfoy also frowning. They started forward again.

Taking a deep breath Hermione knocked on the door. Nothing. She knocked again. They waited in silence.

Draco huffed, "For Merlin's sake" and banged on the door.

Finally an ancient looking house-elf opened the creaking door. "Yes?" it asked in what can only be described as a dusty squeak.

"Good morning, my name is Hermione Granger," before she could finish her sentence the house elf started to close the door. She quickly put a hand out to keep it open but now her smile was strained. "And this is Draco Malfoy. We're Aurors from the Ministry," she pushed the door more open, "we are here to investigate the disappearance of of Molly Thornwell."

"Mistress Thornwell is not well. No visitors" the house-elf gave the door a little push but Hermione's arm stayed straight.

Draco almost wanted to chuckle but turned his attention to the little creature instead. "We'll be quick, we just want to ask a couple of questions."

From inside they heard a cheery voice call, "Visitors? Oh my! Lissy, let them in!" The house elf did as she was told and slowly opened the door grumbling all the while.

"Mistress they are Aurors." Lissy graveled out when walking deeper into the dark house. Hermione and Draco followed. They both noticed the state of the rooms: broken furniture, food scraps starting to rot, and empty sherry bottles. Hermione thought of Godric's Hollow and fought down the feeling of panic. Only a couple of questions and they would leave. No giant snakes trying to kill her here; she squared her shoulders.

Malfoy felt her becoming more and more tense. Part of him, the smallest part, wanted to grab her hand: to comfort her or to comfort himelf was the real question. He instead put his hands in his pockets and held his wand.

They were lead into a bright kitchen that was a stark contrast from the dark house. The sight that met them was shocking: food was everywhere. Piles of mashed potatos, chicken, pies, cookies, toast. There were drinks also sitting out-water, juice, milk. Some of it was fresh, most of it was starting to give off a strong smell. Hermione and Draco both raised an eyebrow at each other as a beautiful women straightened up from the oven holding a tray of chocolate chip cookies.

"Just in time!" the lady sang, "Fresh from the oven, would you like some? Oh where are my manners? I am Ms. Thornwell." She put the tray down on the stove, and gesture to the elf, "And this is my wonderful Lissy! Now Lissy, please go clean Molly's room." She battered her eye lashes. Her face was full of make-up, bright red lips and gold eye shadow. She wore a glittering gown as if they caught her about to go to a ball.

Giving them a big smile, Hermione noticed half of lipstick was on her teeth. "Merlin's balls" she heard Malfoy mumble.

"We've been Miss Havisham-ed" she muttered back. Louder she said, "Good morning Ms. Thornwell, we're Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy." She took a step forward in front of Draco. She didn't know why but the need to protect her mentee nagged at her. "We're here about your daughter, Molly."

"Oh my dear Molly, she should be back any minute now. I just made her favorite cookies! Would you like some dears? Please sit, sit." she waved at the table. Draco sneered even the chairs were covered in food slowly going bad.

"Back any minute now?" Hermione was careful to speak calmly. "I am sorry but Molly was taken two days ago. We were hoping you could answer some questions so we can find her and bring her back home."

Ms. Thornwell tipped the hot tray of cookies over the table to add to the food pile. One rolled off and under a cabinet startling some insects. "No dear, you are mistaken, she's off playing in the woods. She'll be back before sundown. She knows not to play in the dark. Molly is such a wonderful girl." Hermione glanced at Malfoy at a lost of words.

"What time did she go out and play?" Draco asked playing along.

The older woman waved her hand, nail polish had been smushed down her fingers, "Oh around noon. Enough time for me to get dinner ready. Would you like to stay? I can make extra. There's cookies as well, if you want." She began moving some wilted spinach to get to her pots.

Taking Draco's lead Hermione asked, "Actually, we have to be going soon. What part of the woods is she in? I would love to say hello before we leave."

"And if we could drop of a present in her room too." Draco quickly added hoping it sounded believable. The lady was obviously insane.

Her heavily caked eyes narrowed for a second and he thought he went too far. Eyes popping open she gave another wide grin. "Yes-yes of course! My Molly is ever so sweet. Her room is upstairs, second door on your left."

"Thank you Ms. Thornwell." Hermione said. When they were out of earshot she whispered, "All this mess in two days? She needs professional help!"

Draco just nodded. He had a knot in his stomach and was busy thinking of what they'll find in the girl's room. Hermione again moved in front of him to open the door and...

It was a completely normal room of a seven year old. The cleanest room of the house, not even the smell from the kitchen was here. Draco softly pushed past Hermione and walked around. There were some books, many toys, and Lissy sitting on the bed. She looked up at them with watery eyes.

Hermione had an idea, "Lissy," she kneeled on one knee infront of the elf, "do you remember what happened to Molly? Please, we are only trying to find her."

Draco continued to circle the room for anything. He had to find something, this was a time to prove himself.

The elf gulped, "Miss Molly always comes home. When the sun set Miss, she knows better to play in the dark."

"Yes, but two days ago, Molly did not come back at sun down, right?" Hermione gently prodded.

Great silent tears flowed down Lissy's face, "N-n-n-o, Miss, she did not m-m-miss. Mistress has been sick now. She won't let Lissy find Miss. Molly!"

"We're going to try. Could you show us the place where she usually goes?" The elf nodded and snapped her long fingers.

Draco whirled around and found him and Hermione in the woods by a river. "What a fucking nutter that women was and who the hell is Miss. Havisham?"

Hermione look around too and saw a tall pile of wood a couple of meters off. She started walking toward it before replying. "A character from _Great Expectations_ by Charles Dickens. She goes insane and continues to wear her wedding dress and keeps everything the same as it was on her wedding day even though she was left at the alter years ago."

"You read so many cheery novels." Was the sarcastic remark that came from behind her.

She shrugged, "It's a classic." The pile of wood turned out to be a little fort. It was obviously made by a child. Hermione smiled, a secret safe place.

Draco, however, frowned. There were deep scuffs in the dirt around the fort. "Granger-look" he pointed at some broken branches too nearby.

"Looks like Molly put up a bit of a fight." Hermione commented. "No blood either, that's a good sign."

"Yes but it looks like it was definitely more than one person. This was a group of at least three." His eyebrows drew close in concentration. "I don't feel or see any usage of magic."

Hermione watched him, he was focused, just like he had been at Hogwarts. Studying in the library, trying to beat her marks. She shook her head and muttered " _Revelare a Priori."_ She noticed some silvery gas hung in various areas. "Looks like some accidental magic. The kind that magical children display with extreme emotions."

Running his hands through his hair, "That would make sense. Look, it's leading the way we came." They followed the trail, it hung around some broken branches and even some stripped trees until it stopped at the river.

The witch sighed, "Okay, so breaking down what we found out. Molly went out to play at noon. She came out here, which is normal, and played by her fort."

"Then in the afternoon a group surrounded her fort and took her away. They struggled, it looks up until the river." Draco continued.

Hermione nodded, "Maybe they apparated or sedated her somehow, which is why the trail ends here."

"It still isn't enough information." he kicked at a rock.

"No, but it's more than what we had." She checked her watch, it was almost five. They had been here all day. She looked at him again. "Why _did_ you want to be an Auror?"

The question took him by surprise, his head snapped toward her, "What?"

"I asked, why-"

"I heard you!" Draco closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He kicked at another rock thinking of his answer. "I've done a lot of shitty things right?" Hermione didn't argue, "I figured, maybe, this would make up for some of it."

He heard her snort and he felt his cheeks heat up. "We can't all be bloody perfect Golden-Girl Granger. I'm surprised you chose this route instead of fighting for some second-rate creature's rights." A sneer fell on his lips.

Hermione titled her head. He was telling the truth, guilt was almost radiating off him. She shrugged, "I thought about it but when Kingsley got elected Minister I knew he be more just. As an Auror, I could support him and do good for others. Legislation is slow moving, I wanted to be more active."

Her blunt answer calmed him. She wasn't putting on a front or making fun of him. The sun was going down and it was getting cold. Noticing her breath coming out in puffs he said, "Come on Granger, let's say good-bye to our Miss. Habertson."

They walked back to the house. It wasn't a too far but both young Aurors felt tired. Small victories, Hermione reminded herself, every step was a step toward saving innocents. Re-entering the kitchen she noticed the feel was different. Ms. Thornwell had spilled a chair full of food on the floor and was sitting with her head in her hands.

She pushed a startled Draco behind her and gripped her wand in her pocket. "Ms. Thornwell, we'll be leaving now, thank you for all your help."

The woman's head shot up, her green eyes moving around the room wildly. "Oh, so soon dears? You won't stay for dinner?" she got up quickly and took a raw slab of meat out of the oven. "It's all Molly's favorites! Have a seat!" A strained grin was stretched across her face.

Draco spoke up with his hand on his wand, "No thank you, we have to head out."

She moved with speed neither of them expected and grabbed the cookie tray. She started to bang it against the counter with every word spraying food on her face and in her hair. "YOU. MUST. STAY. FOR. DINNER. MOLLY. WILL. BE. SO. DISAPPOINTED!"

The mad woman threw the tray at them, Hermione deflected it with a swish of her wand, but Ms. Thornwell waved her wand and yelled " _Stupefy!"_

Draco shielded them quickly then grabbed Hermione's hand. "Run!" he shouted as they heard a bang. They ran through the house as they heard a squeaking "Mistress must not hurt herself! Mistress calm!" but the sound of pots crashing could be heard.

When they reached the front yard Hermione didn't stop to catch her breath and instead squeezed Draco's hand to apparate them back to the Ministry.

Back at the atrium Hermione dropped Draco's hand and put her hands behind her head to breathe. Draco already started walking toward the Auror's office.

"What a shit-show that was," he picked him food from his hair and shuddered.

Hermione also shook out her messy hair before tying it into a bun on top of her head, "Malfoy, she just lost her daughter. She's deranged, we'll send someone to help."

He glanced down at her shoes, "I have to ask," he opened the door to the offices noting that most people already went home. It was almost seven and he was thankful. "How the hell do you work in those things?"

"Impressed? You should be." she smirked at him. "Ready for some paperwork?" she asked when they reached their desks.

"Paperwork? Granger, look at the time. It's Friday, have mercy, it's my first day!" he tried for innocent eyes but she just threw a quill at him.

"And the thrills continue," she sighed and put a new piece of parchment into the typewriter.


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't know, I think I like the third one best" Ginny Weasley commented while twirling in the mirror.

"No matter what dress you get, you look stunning" Hermione smiled at her best friend.

"Thank you, but unhelpful," Ginny glared at her reflection. Her wedding was a couple of months away and she needed to make a decision.

Saturday meant dress shopping for the bride to be. They were at Madam Malkin's which boosted robes for all occasions but after a couple of hours Hermione was losing hope. How many gowns Ginny had tried on, 8? 15? They were aiming for a winter wedding and while it was a bright October day Hermione knew it would be no time before December rolled around.

Hermione sighed, her stomach was on the verge of eating itself if she didn't get lunch soon. "Honestly I think the second one was my favorite." She stood up behind Ginny with a wolfish smile. "The sweetheart neckline showed off your curves, Harry won't be able to keep his hands off you." Ginny blushed and nodded her agreement. Oh thank goodness thought Hermione's mind and stomach.

One hour and one gown purchase later when the two were eating Ginny looked at her closest female friend and asked seriously, "So, the love life, how's it going?"

Hermione sighed and put down her fork, "Ginny, you know I don't have time for anything like that."

"I worry Hermione! You work all the time and haven't had anything serious since my brother. Everybody needs a little love in their life." The red-head had also put down her fork.

"I have plenty of love: I love my work and I love my friends."

Now Ginny sighed, "You know what I'm talking about. You had that date, last week, with whats-his-face. What happened with him?"

The brunette wrinkled her nose, "You should have heard the way he chewed! And every time he took a sip of his wine he made a noise! Sip, ahhhhh." She demonstrated. "Bloody irritating."

"Oh you mean like this?" Ginny picked up her glass of wine, took a long sip and gave a long 'aaaaahhhhh' with a loud lip smack at the end.

Giggling Hermione picked up her glass, "No, no, more like this." She took a deep drink while giving a loud moan of delight followed but another loud 'ahhhhhh'. They were starting to draw stares and strange looks from the other tables which made the women lose control of their laughter.

Leaving the lunch place behind arm in arm they walked down Diagon Alley. They reached a speaker platform where a greying-haired witch stood tall behind a magical megaphone.

"We believe in a bright and just world!" the woman proclaim, "Where all creatures are treated equal! From the smallest elf to the tallest giant, we stand together!" the crowd around the stand clapped, some whistled. Hermione heard a few boo's. She stopped Ginny to listen.

Ginny leaned over, "Is that Reilly Dogood?" Hermione shushed her but nodded. They listened to the speech for a bit longer. Dogood was an outspoken Ministry official. She worked on bills to secure rights for various creatures. Hermione had met her once and almost fainted with admiration, but they pulled away as the group of people got larger. GInny knew how Hermione felt about crowds.

"I really look up to her, there isn't a bill she's made where I haven't put my name behind." Hermione explained.

"She has been getting a lot of press lately. I think after everything that happened the Ministry is trying to paint a new face on themselves."

They walked further down the road but they could still hear the crowd with a single voice ringing out clear: "Equality to All!"

Monday reared it's ugly head too quickly for anyone's tastes. Draco Malfoy walked into the Auror office early and quickly got a strong cup of tea. He had to remember his roots, Malfoy's don't show emotion, they don't get frustrated, and they were always the best. Proving he was the best was going to be the goal and he didn't give a flying fuck about what anyone else thought.

Sitting at his desk he started to organize some papers. He had been through hell and back: he knew the Auror's here have seen some bad shit but he had seen things that still haunt his dreams. Their taunts and stares will only motivate him. Taking a sip of his tea he made sure his face was a mask of indifference as the first early comers filed in, some running in-grabbing something-then running out.

One of the men that sided with the Auror named Aidan walked in, stopped in his tracks and gave Draco a death stare. The blond merely nodded in greeting and the man stormed over. He was about the same height as Draco but with dark hair, maybe in his thirties. He leaned over Draco's desk not breaking eye contact.

"Listen here you Death Eater trash, I don't know how you got in here but I can promise I will make your life hell," he whispered through clenched teeth.

Leaving his face impassive Draco slowly stood up and whispered, "I would find it amusing to see you try".

The man's brown eyes flashed and his hand went to his wand, "Wilkins" a voice harsh voice stated behind him. A feminine hand planted itself firmly on Wilkins' shoulder. He whirled around to find Hermione.

Draco turned his stoic expression toward her. He didn't need her help or protection, but she ignored him.

Standing to her full height she came up to the man's nose. She wasn't short, average for a woman, the heels only added two inches, but there was an anger rolling off her. Malfoy had the pleasure for once, not being at the receiving end.

"H-Hermione, good morning. I was just seeing how our newest mentee was getting along in the office," stuttered the name named Wilkins. It was a strange sight, this full grown man being so afraid of Granger but Draco was confident her reputation protected her. There was a lot of respect for this young witch.

"I am sure you were. Now if you will excuse us, there is a lot to get done." She responded coldly and Draco almost shivered. Wilkins walked to his desk muttering all the way.

When she was sure he wasn't a threat she sat heavily at her desk and took a long sip of coffee. "Okay so I was thinking we should-"

"Thank you." Draco blurted it out without thinking. What happened to his mask? What happened to not wanting her help? He looked at her messy bun, her honey-colored eyes, and down at her desk covered in parchment and books. It looked chaotic the first couple of time he saw it but he started noticing there was some system. She never had a hard time finding anything, she knew where everything was.

She looked at him, a little shocked, then shrugged, "I don't like bullies."

He nodded then sat facing her. "You were saying..."

"Yes!" Hermione gathered herself, "I believe we should visit the first victim's home. They were muggle. We could get more of a complete sense, maybe find more a common link between the children other than just their age."

Draco nodded wearily. The last visit didn't turn out too well but did give them some information. They couldn't just rely on moon cycles.

"Morning 'Mione," Draco recognized the voice as the one belonging to the famous Harry Potter. The green eye man jogged over to their desk. He handed Hermione a couple of daily papers, including the Quibbler and Daily Prophet.

"Morning Harry, thank you! I forgot to stop by and pick these up." Hermione quickly moved around her desk to give him a hug. Draco watched silently from where he was. Their friendship was close and effortless, he felt a tug in his gut.

Green eyes suddenly met steel grey, Harry nodded in recognition. Draco nodded back, "Potter."

"Malfoy." He cleared his throat before continuing, "Ginny told me about your crazy run-in with Ms. Thornwell."

Hermione shuddered, "Reminded me too much of Godric's Hollow. We're visiting the first child's family today."

The raven-haired boy looked between the unlikely pair and offered his best friend a smile, "Well take care of him," he winked, "can't have another decapitated mentee on your record."

Rolling her eyes she gave an innocent smile to play along, "That was one time!" She pushed her best friend toward his own desk. "Go on, do what you do best, go save people."

When she turned back to her mentee she saw he had both pale eyebrows raised at her. "Oh for fuck's sake, he was _kidding_. I've never had another mentee. You'd be the first to get decapitated."

"You two aren't funny."

"You're right, just me." She found the address of the family on her desk and picked it up. "Are you coming or not?"

Draco stood up and followed her out into the atrium. He noted how nice she smelled, like vanilla and parchment, when she grabbed his arm to apparate.

They landed with a soft thud. They were at the end of a relatively nice muggle neighborhood, the kind where all the houses looked the same. There was a wooded area behind them that looked well-used from joggers. Hermione took out a wallet-looking holder and gave it to Draco. "Here, when we get to the home we say we're detectives, not Aurors. We show them these badges, they're like ID's, muggles use to let others know they are official."

Draco took it quickly checking his clothes to make sure they were muggle-appropriate. "You look fine," his mentor commented offering a small smile. Without thinking, he smiled back.

They started walking to the house in question, a blue two story cookie-cutter house. Draco always found himself feeling a sense of, what? relief? When Granger was civil to him. He had been horrible to her throughout their schooling. She had every right to hate him and he was truly impressed with how in control she was of her feelings. She treated him like an actual Auror instead of an ex-Death Eater. Maybe that was why he found himself naturally unguarded around her. He knew she would never attack unless provoked (from experience he was always doing the provoking).

Walking up, Draco couldn't help holding on to his wand. This house didn't look anything like the other one but he felt he needed to be prepared. Hermione took notice but didn't say a word. She knocked on the door then took a step back.

For fall it was a nice day, the brunette had a good feeling about this. A middle-aged man opened the door, "May I help you?"

"Hello Mr. Hemingway, my name is Hermione Granger and this is Draco Malfoy, my" she hesitated, detectives didn't have mentees did they? Hurrying her words she recovered, "partner. We understand your son was abducted awhile ago. We are here to follow up from the initial investigation." She finished by handing him her badge and nudged Draco to do the same.

The man's eyes swept toward the blond who cleared his throat before putting his badge back into his pocket. "Your son hasn't been found yet and we are hoping to recheck the location. We want to make sure the team before us didn't miss anything."

"It's been 5 months" the man's voice cracked but he waved them in. They followed him into the living room. "Have a seat" he gestured to the couch while he sat in an armchair.

Hermione and Draco sat on the coach side by side. Draco tried to ignore how close they were; her body felt warm and he could smell her. The witch took out a pocket note pad and a pen. Draco raised an eyebrow at her, then did a quick look around.

The house was very muggle, he recognized some things from Muggle Studies like the television and a telephone. Otherwise it was plain: off-white walls and lots of book cases. Malfoy gripped the couch a bit to not think about his old Muggle Studies professor, he shook his head and focused in on the women next to him.

"Your son, Jackson Hemingway, was taken about 5 months ago. Could you tell us more about that day? No detail is too small."

Mr. Hemingway ran his hands through his salt-and-pepper hair and sighed heavily. He sounded like a defeated man. When he looked up, however, he had a hard glint in his eye. Hermione inwardly smiled, he hadn't given up.

"Jackson was a very active child. We went camping a whole lot, hikes, we were just outdoor people. That day, Jackson went outside to play in the backyard. There's a trail out there at will lead to the woods. We've walked on that trail a thousand times that I didn't think anything of it." He took a deep breath before continuing.

"I was making dinner and something felt off. Do you ever get this feeling that something just isn't right? I got it a couple of times with Jackson, odd things could happen whenever he was angry or sad. Like a drop in air pressure." Draco nodded although he wasn't sure what the man was talking about.

"I ran from the kitchen, outside and he wasn't in the backyard. I took off down the trail. I didn't see him anywhere. I thought I heard a scream, but it didn't sound like him. I ran toward it anyway and nothing. I looked for hours before going back to the house. Maybe he had doubled back when I went off trail. But he wasn't there." Tears welled up in his eyes as he reached for a tissue.

"And the local authorities didn't find anything correct?" Hermione stated looking through her notes.

He laughed and Draco tensed, nobody needed another episode of crazy. "They didn't find a damn thing. Nobody did! We had search parties, the whole damn neighborhood. They said it was like he vanished, poof!"

"Do you mind if we see his room?" Draco asked calmly.

"Upstairs, second door on your left." Mr. Hemingway put his head in his hands, "Can I get you two anything? Tea? Water?"

Malfoy was about the decline when Hermione spoke, "Tea would be wonderful." The man nodded and stood up to go to the kitchen.

Hermione and Draco went up the stairs to the child's room. It was much of the same, untouched and normal-looking. " _Revelare_ " the witch muttered and to Draco's surprise a light grey mist faintly hung around the room.

"Jackson was a muggle-born. The drop in air pressure feeling is how my parents once described being around me when I accidentally did magic due to strong emotions." Hermione explained.

Draco looked confused, "Pureblood children do accidental magic too. I've never felt anything like that."

"That's because those who are always around magic are used to it. There's so much magical energy in the air that it doesn't matter. Muggles aren't always around magic, it causes this change in the atmosphere so to speak. It's why electricity doesn't work in high-magic places."

Running his hands over a small television set in the room Draco nodded his understanding. "Should we check outside?"

Shaking her head, "No, I don't think we would find anything. It's pretty similar to the other disappearances. My confusion is that it was never disclosed that Jackson was a muggle-born. Doesn't the Ministry track that, for schooling?"

Draco was about to respond when Mr. Hemingway stepped into the room with their tea. Hermione smiled gratefully and took hers. "We're almost done here, just one more question."

"Did you notice anything strange leading up to your son's disappearance? Anyone that you noticed wearing funny clothes or any feeling of being followed?" Draco questioned. He knew that was where Granger was headed.

The father though for a moment, "Nobody in funny clothes, unless you count that new style of sagging one's pants" he looked pointedly at Draco as if his slacks where hanging off his hips. In a moment of confusion Draco also looked at his well-fitted black pants. Hermione stifled a giggle, Malfoy wouldn't dare have an article of clothing out of place.

"The feeling of being followed, now that you mentioned it, yes. I felt it sometimes when we went to the shop but Jackson mentioned it a few times walking down our block. That's why he started playing in the backyard more instead of the front."

Hermione and Draco looked at each other. "Thank you for your time and cooperation. We should be going. We will keep you updated if we find anything."

Mr. Hemingway saw them out, when he shook their hands he held onto Draco's for a second longer, "Please do me a favor. Find the bastards, bring my son home."

They walked back down the block speaking quietly to each other. "Okay we have another connection," Hermione concluded, "I'd bet the other muggle children taken were also muggle-born. Which means someone is taking children with magical abilities. That and nobody is reporting it."

"Wasn't that one of the biggest reasons these disappearances weren't taken seriously?"

Hermione nodded, "Maybe...maybe we should keep this between us."

Draco smirked, "You want to keep a secret with me?"

She swatted his arm making his smirk turn into a smile briefly. He coughed lightly then agreed, "Someone wants this covered up. Spreading this around to alert whoever is behind it."

"Do you think it could be an inside job?" she looked at him from the corner of his eye.

"Maybe. But signs are pointing to the obvious right?" This time he grabbed her arm and apparated them back to the Ministry.

"There is one thing we know for certain" he turned to her seriously when they finally reached their desks.

"What?"

"You called me your partner." He smiled smugly. She buried her head in her arms.


	5. Chapter 5

The following Tuesday Hermione was staring at her paper work with a glossy eye looked. Draco was in a meeting with the the head of the Auror department as a check in. She was trying to make heads or trails of the information they gathered-they needed a set plan to move forward.

"Those papers are going to burst into flames if you keep looking at them like that" said a voice in front of her.

Hermione's head snapped up as a grin graced her features. "Emily!" she launched herself across the desk to give the witch in front of her a hug.

"How's undercover?" Hermione asked when she let go. She was older by quiet few years but with their desks so close together they were able to create a bond.

"Exhausting. Illegal dragon transporters just don't know the word 'no'" she scoffed. Her eyes stayed fixed on something behind Hermione. She turned to see Draco Malfoy sit at his desk. Emily's eyes went from him to Hermione.

"New partner?" she asked without emotion, a skill needed in undercover.

"New mentee," Hermione corrected, "Draco, meet Emily. She's an undercover Auror." Draco stood up to shake her hand. She was mostly blonde but half her hair was dyed blue.

"Always nice to have new blood." She smiled at both of them but then turned her attention back to her friend. "Training tonight?"

"Wild hippogriffs couldn't keep me away" Hermione smirked.

"O-ho! Strong words m'lady." Emily winked. "See you at five" she sauntered toward one of the conference rooms.

Draco watched Hermione grin, "Close friend?"

"She was the first non-Hogwarts friend I made here." She explained. "Okay now back to business."

When the clock reached 4:45 Hermione was relieved. Her and Malfoy researched and went through what felt like a thousand files on muggleborns, kidnappings, and ministry officials. They had to be careful with the last to make sure they didn't raise any eyebrows.

Hermione stretched, Draco carefully watched her movements. "Going to call it a night?"

"No, workout time." The grin was back. She started packing her things as Harry jostled around people toward her desk.

"Tuesday Fight Club!" he fist pumped!

She quickly punched his arm, Draco caught the wince and chuckled. "First rule!" the witch exclaimed.

Harry caught Malfoy's eye, "You coming?"

Draco shrugged, "I have no idea to what."

"Physical training area. Hermione can only train with one other Auror, Emily, because they know most of the same moves. Everyone else is afraid." Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry's explanation.

"I'm in." There was no hesitation as Malfoy gathered his belongings and walked downstairs with the other two. Granger never gave him a tour of the next level but it seemed to be a gym of some sort. He watched witches and wizard have target practice with their wands. There were rooms with obstacle courses that looked bigger than the rooms they were held in. They finally reached a large open space with mats lining the floor. It looked like a dueling area.

Seeing his confusion Hermione clarified, "You are supposed to start physical training your second week. You start with your mentor then we find someone who you physically match with. I started with Kingsley but when I saw Emily, I asked to train with her."

Draco nodded, it felt odd walking and conversing with Granger and Potter. As if they didn't spend years being the bane of each other's existence. Draco still had a nasty scare from Potter's _Sectumsempra_ curse across his chest.

"I'm going to change, see you in three!" Hermione ducked into a locker room.

"Let's go sit over-"

"Am I late?" panted the other third of the Golden Trio. Malfoy fought an insult of the red-head that just came so naturally.

"Not yet, just finding a place to sit."

Ron eyed Malfoy with distaste as they found a safe spot in the room. They leaned their backs against the wall and the blond was surprised how many more people were filing in. Even Kingsley walked in, waved at the three men, then stood off to the side.

"He monitors their progress. Sometimes they don't know when to stop until he calls time. It's no hard feelings, they're pretty close. I think Emily reminds Hermione of Tonks," Harry explained.

"I still don't understand what the big deal is, it's just dueling, right?" Draco kept looking around, trying to find what was special.

Ron snorted which caused Malfoy to sneer. Harry tensed in case something happened between the two but at that moment Hermione walked out. Draco's jaw dropped, her work suit gone, she was dressed in a loose fitting grey tank top and black leggings. Her body was in very good shape which he made a mental note of, but what caught his attention the most was her arm, he expected to see the word "Mudblood" etched into it, courtesy of his aunt Bellatrix. It was still there, dark maroon letters, but there was a tattoo running through it, a quote he couldn't really make-out until she moved closer. "Still I Rise" it said in beautiful script against her golden skin with a mountain range beneath it.

"You might catch some flies if you keep your mouth open like that." Harry snickered causing Draco to snap his mouth closed.

"Hey Ron, you made it" Hermione greeted giving the tall lanky man a hug.

"You kidding me? This rarely happens! It's a nice break from shooting curses at you on the obstacle course."

Emily just then walked on the mat wearing similar work out clothes, she tapped her wand onto a Wizard Wireless Radio sitting in a corner of the room and it started playing music.

Hermione just grinned, "Stretch time" she walked away without another word twirling her wand until she reached the blonde/blue haired woman. They stretched different parts of their bodies that made Draco tilt his head.

"Once again, this is just dueling, correct?" Draco questioned his two former foes. Most witches and wizards dueled in their regular robes. In second year they hadn't changed into active clothing.

Harry shook his head chuckling and Ron gave what would be considered an evil smile, "Oh, you have no idea. There is a reason 'Mione has more respect around here than Harry."

"Hey!" Harry elbowed his friend. "I'm respected enough."

Hermione and Emily stood up and went to the center of the room. Everyone got quiet, Draco noticed that Aidan and his friends were there as well smiling without a care in the world. Draco controlled his facial expressions, he had no idea what was happening but didn't want to seem confused.

A song came on that he didn't know but heard Potter humming. The two women hugged, walked ten steps away from each other then faced each other again. The song picked up in tempo-some rock song, probably muggle, when they started firing spells at each other.

Draco watched, it was almost like a dance. They move around the room in a circle, Emily would send a spell, Hermione would block it and vice versa. It was clear they knew each others moves and this was just a warm up.

Suddenly Emily aimed a spell not at Granger directly but at her feet. Hermione jumped, dodging it but sent a fast _stupify_ back at her. The pace picked up, they moved faster sending curses and putting up shield charms. It was incredible the speed in which they moved, ducking and weaving to not get hit. Malfoy abruptly noticed that many were casted wordlessly.

" _Anteoculatia!"_ Hermione shouted but aimed the hex high to get Emily to duck. She knew her friend would and dodge right so she aimed there next, " _Arresto Momentum!"_

At the same time Emily shouted the classic, " _Expelliarmus!_ " Hermione's wand went clear across the room as did Emily's as Hermione's spell knocked her hand.

Draco was about to clap, it was over, but he saw everyone else lean forward. He turned his eyes back to the duel and watched Hermione run toward Emily, who in turn slid down and went to kick at Hermione's legs. The younger girl again jumped over the kick and flipped the older witch on her back. The song changed, even faster, as if reading the room.

Draco Malfoy has been in physical fights before. He fought with Weasley his first year at Hogwarts. This wasn't just a fist fight, it was well trained, well in control. Punches and kicks were throw with speed but also blocked. They grappled but then Emily or Hermione wandlessly pushed the other away for space. At one point Hermione was almost blasted into a near-by wall but then stopped herself midway with a wave of her hand. Draco was transfixed, how could someone, especially a muggle-born, be so strong?

Both women were panting when Hermione grabbed Emily around the middle finally slamming her to the ground. He again thought it was done when Emily flipped the brunette with her hips landing on and pinning Hermione. Both women summoned their wands back to them when Kingsley Shacklebolt clapped his hands. The music stopped and Hermione tapped Emily twice who then rolled off of her. They both grinned, stood up, and hugged again. They were covered in sweat and were breathing hard.

"Excellent, excellent!" He went over to them and started speaking in low voices. They caught their breath while listening. Draco felt Harry stand and went to follow. People were now leaving, talking about what happened, some passing money from bets.

The blond let out a long breath he didn't know he was holding, "That was..." he lifted his arm as if the words would fall into his hand.

Harry smirked, "Impressive? To you and everyone else. She would train non-stop when we first started."

"That's our Hermione." Ron nodded a little coolly. The double meaning of sentence wasn't lost on Malfoy, _our Hermione_ meaning _not yours._

Harry checked his watch, "I'm due to meet Ginny for dinner soon. I'm going to say good-bye." He left the group and walked over to the girls as Kingsley walked away from them. He gave the boys a wave and left the room.

Ron looked Malfoy up and down, "So, why an Auror? I would have thought maybe law or something."

A smart response was forming on the former Slytherin's lips but stopped himself. It was an actual question but he wasn't going to spill his heart to his former bully target. He shrugged, "People change."

Ron raised a skeptical eyebrow but stayed quiet until the girls turned their attention to them, "Well I need to head out too. Bye Herms! Always a pleasure Ems." He hugged them both and sped out. Leaving before something started between him and Malfoy if left alone long enough.

Emily laughed, "Probably late for dinner."

"What was that?" Draco asked.

"The spells or the fighting?" Hermione was refixing her long hair in a pony-tail.

"The fighting, I've never seen anything like that."

"No, you wouldn't have." Hermione smirked playfully, "It's Krav Maga. Kingsley paired us up so I could learn from Emily. It's difficult and very serious."

"Muggle?"

Both women nodded. "Emily's muggle-born too. Her father was in the military."

Draco took a deep breath. He was on a streak of breaking Pureblood traditions, what's one more? "I want to learn."

Emily raised an eyebrow, "And this is where I bow-out. Good-night you two! Hermione, drinks sometime this week before I disappear again?"

Hermione nodded and the older witch took her leave. "You want to learn?" she restated grabbing her belongings. Draco already had his and walked with her toward the door.

"It's going to be hard work, you would have to listen to everything I say. It isn't going to be like Quidditch where you work out only a couple of core muscles. It's everything mind and body." She turned to look Draco face-on.

He took a step forward to be closer, only a couple of inches left between them. He could smell the sweat drying on her skin. How did she still smell so _damn_ good? He didn't know why but he lifted her tattooed arm up to get a closer look.

She blushed, "Maya Angelou" clearing her throat she continued, why did she feel so flustered? "I didn't want Bellatrix to define me, but I didn't want to cover it up."

He slowly traced the letters of the tattoo, then gently let her arm go, "It's beautiful. "

"We'll start training next week, okay?"

Draco offered her one of those rare smiles of his. They had reached the Ministry's entrance, "Anything you say, boss." He responded before apparating.

Hermione shook her head smiling back, must be the endorphins, she reasoned.

When Hermione got home she reasoned she was already a sweaty mess so she might as well go running. She went on her run alone, she took a shower alone, she made a dinner for one, alone. She poured a glass of wine for one and sat on her couch. Her cat, Crookshanks, curled up next to her. "Good boy," she murmured scratched behind his ears making him purr. She turned on the telly and watched the news while flipping through some of the new papers around her, magical and muggle. She read a couple articles about Ms. Dogood and looked for anything odd in the muggle papers. When she was finally sleepy she cleaned up, brushed her teeth, and laid in bed. Hermione had never minded being alone but for the first time in awhile, she felt lonely.

Draco had landed inside his flat. He had bought it at the end of summer, at the end of his house arrest. He thought of how far he's come since then and did his evening routine. The ex-Death Eater did not have many close friends growing up. The ones he did have he hadn't seen since the trails where he caught glimpses of Blaise, Pansy, and Theo as their families were being questioned. He ordered dinner from a place alone, ate alone, showered alone, and read alone. When he was finally sleepy he set wards up around the flat, making sure death threats were just threats. He brushed his teeth alone and laid in bed alone. Draco was no stranger to being by himself, but always wondered what it felt like to not be lonely.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Thank you for the reviews, bookmarks, and fav's! I've had a lot of scenes in my head and appreciate any feedback.**_

Hermione felt like banging her head against the wall. The week was passing by quickly, her and Malfoy had gotten other assignments; easy ones that involved checking in on pureblood families that were sympathetic toward the Dark Lord or covering up magic exposure toward muggles. They were quick cases but involved a lot of paperwork that kept them busy. Spending late hours at the office, not working on her main case was frustrating and when she was frustrated she was impatient especially on a Friday night.

The witch looked away from her typewriter when she heard a dull _thud_ next to her. Malfoy had beat her to it and had dropped his head against his desk. She threw a quill at him to add insult to injury.

Draco turned his head enough so he could make eye contact, "Really?" he drawled.

"We're almost done here and then we could-"

"Granger, it's late. We finished our report on the dancing dust pans. Let's just go home. You remember home right?" Something close to puppy-dog eyes graced Draco's face. Hermione had to admit they worked together rather well. Sometimes it was easy to forget he was the same Draco Malfoy who could bully her to tears. At least it had made her a stronger person.

Pulling a file close to her, Hermione was about to argue before her stomach growled loudly, "Okay, okay. Dinner first?"

The question was automatic, she hadn't truly meant to ask him to dinner. She was just delirious with hunger but now that she thought about it she hasn't seen him talk with anyone else in the Ministry. Did he have friends outside of work?

Draco looked up in surprised. He has only been around Granger during work hours, sometimes after work hours but only in the office. They have never spent time together socially. Hermione seemed to notice his hesitation titled her head, "Or not. No pressure or anything."

She started packing up her satchel. There was a slight sting of hurt, but she could understand. Years of hatred didn't just simply vanish, she took a deep breath. He was trying but maybe the fact that she was muggle-born was still a barrier, something he had to get over professionally but never considered socially. Perspective she reminded herself as she stood up.

The act of standing up seemed to shake Draco out of his frozen state, "I'd love to."

This time Hermione was the one to freeze, but only for a moment before giving a hesitant smile, "Not afraid to be seen in public with muggle-born Granger?"

The blond wizard quickly stood up and walked over to her desk, standing in front of her. She was able to see the seriousness in his features, "I didn't mean it like that." Grey eyes locked on honey ones, "I just, haven't been out...in public...in awhile, with anyone."

Hermione bit her lip, a move that didn't go unnoticed. She should have remembered he's been under house arrest since his trials. Going out must seem nerve wracking. Kingsley words came back to her _nobody else will take him._

"Right," she cleared her throat as he moved to gather his brief case, made of fine leather of course. "I know this really great place. Indian, muggle and low-key."

Draco felt a warm feeling in his chest, one that he had started associated with this brunette. He wasn't getting accepted with open arms here and he appreciated her bravery. Not many people wanted to be associated with him after everything. Always a Gryffindor at heart, he thought. They walked out of the office and finally into the atrium when she grabbed his arm to apparate.

They ended up in an alleyway near central London. Hermione quickly shrunk their belongings into her purse. While they weren't wearing anything distinctly wizard-ish they both transfigured their clothing into something more comfortable. There was chill in the October air as they changed their shirts into sweaters, one dark blue and one green, and slacks into dark jeans.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her choice of sweater but Hermione just shrugged. "I look good in green," she defended. He couldn't argue against that and simply put up his hands.

They walked into the restaurant together. Despite what Hermione said about being "low-key", it was acutally busy. The host however recognized her and they got seated right away.

"You come here a lot?" guessed Draco as he looked at the menu.

Hermione chuckled, "They have great drinks, what can I say?" She didn't even glance at her menu. Instead she studied the man infront of her. He seem the slightest bit uncomfortable but it was well hidden. She wouldn't have noticed it except for the tensing in his back.

She waved down their server, "Can we have two Kalamansi Smashes, please? Thank you!"

"Ordering for me now?" Draco smirked.

She smiled at him as the drinks were placed infront of them. Draco took a small sip to test it, then took a longer glup.

"Holy shit that is-"

"Good right?"

"Okay then, what should I order pertaining food then?" Draco challenged.

She gave a sheepish smile, "Honestly, I'm a vegetarian, so I-" Hermione was interrupted by their server placing vegetable samosas on the table between them. He gave her a wink "compliments of the chef" he said before walking away.

Draco lifted a delicate eyebrow, "Wow, Granger getting around huh?"

She went to defend herself but realized he was kidding. She leaned back and flipped her hair, "You know me, always the charmer." Laughing and picking up a samosa she confessed, "I got the chef out of a bind a few months ago. He's a squib and had some trouble with the Ministry. The servers don't know anything about it, I'm just a loyal costumer and they're just know to be nice to me."

The wizard smiled and took a bite of the food. It was heavenly, fighting back a groan of pleasure he kept his eyes on the witch in front of him. "Again, your suggestion?"

"I usually get the Paneer Tikka, but really, anything here is going to be great."

"You won't be offended if I get meat?" In the past, a girl's preferences didn't matter. Right now, he did care. He justified it as he already worked so hard to get this far, he didn't want to fuck things up. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, she was his only friend at the moment.

Hermione laughed, a sound that made him smile, "No, it's a personal choice. Get what you want, I've heard the Sheekh Kabab is great."

"Have you been a vegetarian long? I remember you eating meat at school." Draco questioned swirling a piece of the samosa in sauce. "By the way this is fucking delicious."

Nodding she responded, "Not long. When we went camping for horcruxes, is when it started. There just wasn't much to eat in the area of meat. Afterwards I thought about it terms of another life's for my own and I just...stopped," she shrugged again.

The waiter came and they gave their orders while thinking of the next safe topic to talk about. The topic of horcruxes came so easily to her but anything connected to the Dark Lord made Draco uncomfortable. While she was off camping with the Wonder Twins he had been stuck inside the personal hell of the Malfoy Manor where blood, torture, and death were common.

He didn't know how but he noticed in the short amount of time together she had began reading his moods. Maybe it was because they argued so much in school, he wondered if he could read her as well. She changed the subject for him.

"Did you know that Tikka Masala didn't originate in India? It was invented right here in Britian." Hermione started explaining, when nervous unload some random information, that never fails. To her relief Malfoy laughed.

"Really? Granger, it is truly a wonder how you stay single." He gestured around him. "Ladies and gentleman, the amazing, walking encyclopedia!"

She chuckled along with him, "I know, who wouldn't want all of this?" She gestured from her curly hair, which reached to her waist, to the rest of her body.

Malfoy thought she looked rather nice. The witch in front of him had definitely grown up, she filled out her clothes rather well and tamed her hair (sort of). Any man would love to get to know her body under those clothes. Beyond that she had a confidence that he supposed she always had but now it was less know-it-all.

Instead of answering he changed the topic, "I've been reading about moon-lore."

Hermione groaned in frustration as the food was place in front of them. The server raised an eyebrow but they both gave him a quick smile.

"So have I. Have you found anything beyond were-wolves and faerie magic?" she asked. The food smelled amazing she had to stop herself from inhaling it all. Draco was having the same problem as they ate at a respectable pace.

"No but faerie magic explains some things. I mean all the children disappeared in a forest on a full moon."

Hermione shook her head, "I thought that too but they weren't taken when the moon was up. They were taken in the middle of the day. If it were faries, the kidnapping would be at night, wouldn't it be?"

Draco sighed, meeting her frustration level, "You're right. We're missing something."

"It's probably something obvious too." Hermione agreed.

"Maybe it was nargles." Draco stated seriously.

Hermione's head snapped up. She could see he was fighting a smile-a losing battle. She started laughing and he finally joined in. It was amazing how easily conversation was, almost as if he was Harry or Ron but more...witty? Quick? All of the above.

"Maybe I should look through the Quibbler a couple more times to see if I missed anything odd."

They finished up their meal and the check finally came. Draco reached for his money out of habit before pausing in terror.

"I don't have any muggle money." The wizard whispered.

"I got it." Hermione already had her wallet out. It wasn't a huge deal but as she watched his face she could tell it was for him.

"Malfoys always pay." It was old fashioned, he tried to reason with himself, but it was what he was raised with. Men always paid the bill whether it was a date or not. The act of _her_ paying for _him_ was against the rules of being a gentleman.

Hermione waved a hand infront of his face to snap him out of it. "You can get it next time, okay? Does that work? I'll get the most expensive thing on the menu."

Draco smirked as he put his inner struggle to this side. "That works." It also means they'll hang out again. He found that he enjoyed the company of this witch.

They got up and left the restaurant, the waiters waving good bye. Draco felt refreshed as well as full, they didn't know who he was, they held no judgments about him. He might have to spend more time in muggle London.

The pair walked down the street a bit before they didn't see people.

Malfoy turned toward his companion, "Well, thank you for dinner." He put his hands in his pockets, he didn't know what else to say.

Hermione nodded and also placed her hands in her pockets rocking a bit on her feet, "No problem, it was nice."

"Shall we apparate here?" Draco looked around again to make sure no muggles were around.

"You go ahead, I'm going to walk home." She looked up the street, "I only live a couple minutes away." It was actually a bit farther but despite the cold, it was a nice night.

Draco let out a breath then smiled. "Well thank you for dinner. I'll see you Monday morning?"

"Bright and early," Hermione smiled back.

"Goodnight, Granger."

"Goodnight, Draco."

He apparated before fully realizing she had used his first name. Before fully realizing maybe he should have walked with her.


	7. Chapter 7

Mondays were idiotic. Nobody liked them, everyone dreaded them. They were the sucking black hole that pulled you into the abyss of the week. So then why was Draco looking forward to walking into work Monday morning? He had a small smile on his face as he apparated into the atrium. He gazed up at the new statue of all the creatures working together for a brighter future and for the first time in a long time, he believed it.

Draco heard a small cough behind him and turned, maybe hoping to see a certain witch. His eyes landed on another woman-this one was middle aged with salt-and-pepper hair. She had wrinkles around her very blue eyes. The blond noticed that while she had a smile on her face, those blue eyes didn't match it.

Holding out her hand she introduced herself, "Hello, Mr. Malfoy. I'm Reilly Dogood. How do you do?"

Draco shook her hand. He had heard a lot about this witch, writing bills and speaking for creature equality. He was positive that he'd heard Granger speak fondly of her.

"Well, thank you." He responded politely.

"How are you getting along in the Auror office?" her voice was friendly enough but very official. Why she wanted to speak to Draco was beyond him.

"The department is doing great work. I am excited to be a part of the team." The wizard turned back to the statue, following the water feature with his eyes.

Dogood also turned toward the statue. "I hear you are working with Ms. Hermione Granger."

"Yes"

"And how is that going?"

Draco felt the words pressing him. She seemed concern and he could guess she thought he would get Hermione hurt. He doubted the two witches were close but he also knew Hermione endorsed many of her bills.

"Very well. She is a great mentor." He said it smoothly, staying confident. His grey eyes watched her from his peripheral.

The older witch turned her blue eyes to him again, "She is a very special woman, that Ms. Granger. Brightest witch of her age."

Draco just nodded.

"I can only assume what people think of you. Former Death Eater, trying to prove that you have changed." Her face became stern, "I am all for change Mr. Malfoy, do not misunderstand me. There is a lot that will change, the future is arriving and it is not stopping for anyone. Change also demands the power of the community and this community will follow Ms. Granger. "

Malfoy lifted an eyebrow, "You believe I will tarnish her name?"

Dogood gave that professional smile again, Draco realized how cold it actually was. "I just want to make sure nobody is going to hold her back. "

He pushed down his emotions so they wouldn't show on his face. Rage, disappointment, frustration, would all have to wait. Draco was about to respond when he felt a warm body join their group.

"Good morning Ms. Dogood, Malfoy." Hermione said in turn to both of them with a smile. She was a bit breathless as if she just ran.

Ms. Dogood's smile turned from professional to actually kind. "Good morning Ms. Granger. I was just checking in with Mr. Malfoy here, to see how he was adjusting to the Ministry."

Hermione blushed, _blushed_. She was clearly excited to be in Ms. Dogood's presence, but said in a clear voice, "Quite well. He seems like a natural."

Draco had to look away to hide his smile. He wasn't used to such praise, especially in the last few years. Between his father, the Dark Lord, and just anybody he came in contact with, viewed him as a failure. Any negative feelings had suddenly vanish with those few words.

"Well I am sure, with your guidance of course." Draco's fist holding his brief case clenched. He didn't know how, but, Hermione must have felt him tense up. She gave him a puzzled look before smiling sweetly at the older witch.

"I am so sorry Ms. Dogood, but we must be going. We have the child disappearance case and are in the midst of a lead."

Ms. Dogood leaned in slightly, a flash of some emotion passed her eyes. Hermione read it as concern, Draco wasn't so sure.

"Ah yes, well. I shan't keep you." She waved them away, "Be safe out there!"

Hermione and Draco made their way into the offices. The brunette immediately slumped in her chair and place her head on her desk. Malfoy stood awkwardly by her desk.

"So, what is our 'lead' in which we are in the 'midst' of?"

She turned her head to look at him, then closed her eyes, "We don't have one. I just wanted to sound impressive."

"The great Granger lying to an Ministry official?" gasped Malfoy with a hand over his chest. He finally sat at his own desk but had his body facing her.

"Well I couldn't bloody well tell her we're at a dead end." Hermione countered.

"Did you think it was odd how her demeanor changed when you mentioned the case?"

"How so?" Hermione picked her head off the desk to look at him better. "She look concerned to me."

Malfoy shook his head, "Why would she? Does she know many children have been taken? Or any details?"

Granger thought about this. Something he appreciated about her was that she calculated every possibility. She didn't write off any suggestions as much as she wanted to disagree.

"She probably doesn't know, nobody has been taking it seriously and we haven't shared our information. It could be she just heard of it from me and doesn't want such a horrible thing happening at such a delicate time. I mean, could you imagine the panic? We're still recovering from Voldemort." Hermione reasoned. She noticed the shudder that went through Malfoy as she said the name of his family's former master.

Draco was about to respond as another voice cut him off. "Hey Hermione, can I talk to you for second?" The Auror Aidan had made his way over to their desks.

"Yeah, sure." Hermione smiled at him as they walked across the room.

Draco must have eaten something bad for breakfast because there was no way in hell the feeling in his stomach was jealously. He did, however, acknowledge the feeling of betrayal. Why would she be friendly with someone who was such an arsehole? He watched them together getting along easily. Even Potter walked in and joined their conversation without a problem. Aidan's face was serious for most of it before it broke into a smile.

Potter looked over to him and nodded, Draco knew he should nod back but instead he turned toward his typewriter and picked up his quill. Once again being left out, the sting of disappointment hit strongly.

A new assignment fluttered to Potter's desk and one onto Hermione's. Aidan ended up hugging Hermione and shaking Potter's hand. All the emotions from this morning slammed back into him. Was he going to hold her back? What do people think when they see her working with him? As the witch walked back to her desk Draco had to repair the quill he broke in this hand with a quick spell.

Hermione looked at the paper and frowned. "I was hoping to get more time in with..." she stopped herself. Some Aurors had to deal with four cases at once, she cleared her throat looking at Malfoy's steel grey eyes. They were lighter than usual.

"You up for catching some illegal magical herb growers?"

The day had been a disaster. Malfoy was grumper, snarkier, and more sarcastic than usual. Which in turn made Hermione more argumentative, bossy, and sarcastic. They caught the growers and even their dealers but it came at the cost of a skinned elbow on Hermione's end and an almost broken nose on Malfoy's.

They came back into the office tired and sore. Hermione pulled some parchment into her typewriter. Malfoy rubbed his nose, "I knew we should have come from the right. They probably saw your hair from a mile away."

Hermione glared at him, "Maybe it was your hair, it's so white it practically glows. Splitting up to the back and front is standard protocol to cover your angles."

"Brightest witch of her age, following standard protocol." he huffed.

She threw her quill at him.

He glared at her, "Don't fucking throw things at me." He sneered. Hermione leaned back from him. It was a tone she hadn't heard from him a long time.

Hermione could have backed down, could have given him space. She had spent all her years at school, muggle and magical, ignoring bullies. She brushed off their insults and derogatory names. His tone had been something she was used to at Hogwarts.

This wasn't Hogwarts and she refused to let this man in front of her flip a switch back to his old self.

She got him and walked toward his desk, "What in Merlin's balls is wrong with you today?"

He didn't look at her, "What ever do you mean?" His tone was cold. It was how he talked to her all day and it drove her mad.

"You're acting like an arsehole." she kept her voice calm but he could smell the anger. Her hair almost crackled with magic.

Draco ignored her and instead started typing on his parchment. Hermione ripped it out and threw it on her desk. He looked at her with darkened eyes. They looked like the stormy sea and Hermione almost lost her train of thought. She cut him off before he could answer her.

"Fuck the paperwork, come on." The young witch turned away abruptly.

Steaming, Draco didn't see anything he could do except follow. They went down into the training rooms. Part of him wanted to tell her everything but the other part wanted to yell at her out of frustration. Today had been a success, they did what they were supposed to do and then some. They worked well together even if they were at each other's throats.

"Do you have workout clothes?" her voice was clipped.

"Yes" he replied in the same tone. He had remembered he was going to start physical training today.

She went to change without a word and so did he. When he came out he saw her on the mat already stretching. Seeing her body move in such tight pants and loose tank top made him hesitate. Then remembering how Aidan had hugged her reignited his anger.

When she looked up at him, in his straight-legged joggers and dark long-sleeve shirt her eyes softened. Hermione moved to sit cris-cross and motioned him to sit in front of her. He did so leaving a big gap and crossed his arms as well. Granger gave a big scoot until her knees touched his.

Grey eyes looked up in into her golden ones. "Is this really necessary?" he drawled.

Hermione sighed, "This type of training, it isn't just dueling. It is built on trust. What I am going to teach you, we use to defend against injury and death. Therefore it can cause injury and death, infact it is supposed to." Not breaking eye contact, she took a deep breath. "Do you trust me?"

Up until this morning he would like to believe he would have said yes. She was about the only person he could trust. Even in Hogwarts he could trust her to be the same self-righteous person she always was. Now with all his turmoil, all his snarks, she still didn't turn away from him. She didn't run to Kingsley. They were here, sitting knee to knee on some mats.

"Yes." the blond said after a short pause.

"Then I need you to show it. Because I also need to trust you. I thought we were on a good path and then you went all Mr. Hyde on me." she sounded exasperated. He supposed she had a good reason.

Taking a deep breath he rushed his next words, "This isn't easy for me. I'm not used to sharing, anything."

She smiled, "I'm not expecting you to share your deepest darkest secrets." That made him smile. "What was wrong today?"

They weren't wearing shoes on the mats and he chose to stare at the red polish on her toenails. "You and Aidan seemed pretty close today. I thought you said you didn't like bullys."

Hermione nodded, "I don't like bullying behavior. I've been pretty upset with Aidan and how he's been treating you but he's a good person at heart. He wanted to thank me and Harry for visiting his mother over the weekend."

"His mother?"

"She's in St. Mungo's." she said in a quiet voice. In an even quieter voice she added, "She helped fight and got really injured protecting some muggle-borns in London. I usually send her flowers."

"Oh." It was official, he felt like a fucking prat. He was a fucking prat.

"Was that all?" she asked. She started pulling her hair into a pony tail.

He considered telling her about Dogood's comments. Draco wasn't used to confiding in anyone and didn't feel ready. It was too raw. Instead he smirked, "I thought we weren't getting into my deep dark secrets?"

Hermione smiled with relief, smirking Draco was fine with her. "Well then, get off your arse." She stood up and he immediately felt the warmth go with her. She ran over to the radio and tapped her wand against it. Again music that Draco didn't recognize came on, some kind of bluesy rock.

"Muggle music." She smiled sheepishly, her eyes sparkled.

"Not bad, different." He said standing. "Okay what do I do?"

They started with dueling, Hermione wanted to see his spell knowledge and casting speed. His hexes and charms were good, not as powerful but he casted with surprising speed. She had to dodge quite a few.

Next came the physical, they were already warmed up. Draco was sweating in his long sleeve. She didn't have him change or take it off, she knew exactly why he wore it. He would start to push up his sleeves then quickly pull it back down.

"The first thing is knowing the most vulnerable parts of the human body: eyes, nose, ears, jaw, throat, groin, knees, and Achilles tendons." Hermione explained. "We're going to go slowly, until we get the movements. Let me see a fist."

Draco held out his fist, he's been in a couple of fights. Remembering punching Weasley in first year he smirked. She nodded.

"Now let me see how you kick."

"Do I kick you?"

"I'm sorry do you see another target?"

Draco took a breath before kicking. She caught it and threw it aside almost throwing him off balance. Hermione showed him how to stand and he mimicked her, she modeled the kick and he did it again.

They moved painfully slow going through different moves and reviewing earlier ones. The music seemed to read the activity and changed to a sultry tune. Hermione would gently move Draco's arm or leg correcting his position. He had blushed the first few times her hand touched his thigh and stomach. It was warm when she pressed the small of his back and shoulders as she shifted his stance. There was a pleasant burn left when she moved to the next spot. He was even surprised when she grabbed his forearms; she hadn't flinched even knowing she was so close to his dark mark. Every once in a while she would sway with the music or bounce a bit when he did something right.

Malfoy was an impressively quick learner. Hermione no longer questioned the fact that he was constantly second to her in school, he only needed to be corrected once and didn't make the same mistake twice. At first she felt a bit awkward guiding his muscles and tried her best to ignore how fit he was. She especially ignored his toned stomach and the feeling in her gut when she corrected his shoulders. The warm sensation in her fingers? She completely didn't notice thank you very much.

They weren't moving fast but the amount of control they had to put in their bodies left them in a fine sheen of sweat.

"Like I said this morning, a natural." Hermione commented as they packed their belongings.

Draco flushed with pride. At least that part hadn't been a lie. "Well, when you have the right mentor."

Hermione lightly pushed his shoulder. She tapped the radio off and they left the room walking side by side when Malfoy suddenly froze, "Who the fuck is Mr. Hyde?"

The witch hit her forehead with her palm before explaining.


	8. Chapter 8

Hermione ran into the coffee shop for her morning coffee. The man behind the counter gave her a bright smile. "Good morning Ms. Hermione, the usual?"

She smiled back, "Good morning Daniel. Yes, but I would like to add a coffee and two pastries, please?"

The man's hazel eyes dimmed a bit. "Ah new boyfriend?" He went to get another coffee, having already poured the first one. He also grabbed two morning buns from the shelf.

Shaking her head while taking out her purse she replied, "New partner at the office. We started off on the wrong foot to put it lightly."

"Apology pastries?" he joked. The brightness was back.

Hermione laughed, "Something like that."

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck. "I've actually been meaning to ask, would you like to go to dinner some time? With me?"

It took a second for her to process this question. He was fairly cute; curly brown hair, dimples, tall. He stuttered before she had a chance to respond, "O-or a drink or something not coffee related?"

"Yes, yes that'll be fine. This Friday, okay?" Ginny was always on her about dating, why not?

"Yeah great. I'll pick you up at eight."

"Eight it is. " She gave a small wave goodbye while balancing everything on her way out.

Once she was in the office she set everything down. She finally beat Malfoy, it took getting up at an ungodly hour, but it was worth it. It wasn't like she was sleeping well. Who needed sleep anyway?

She set his coffee on his desk along with the morning bun while looking at a pile of new files on her desk. Groaning inwardly she started reading while picking at the bun and sipping her coffee. A certain blond wizard wasn't even noticed until she heard him clearing his throat.

"Morning," she muttered, eyes glued to the paper.

"What is this?" Draco asked, he hadn't moved to sit down. It looked awkward, him standing in front of this desk staring at a cup of coffee as if it would bite.

"What?"

"This!" he gestured to the pastry, offended by its presence. "What is it?"

Finally lifting her eyes to her mentee then looking at his desk she drawled, "Looks like a cup of coffee and a morning bun."

"What the fuck is a morning bun?"

"Just fucking take a bite and say 'thank you Hermione, how sweet of you.'"

Sighing in exasperation he sat down and grabbed the pastry. He took a hesitant bite and closed his eyes.

"Thank you Hermione, how sweet of you." It sounded almost pained.

"Now that wasn't so hard was it?" She leaned toward him to gloat.

Draco placed a hand to this forehead, "Almost died." He smile again before sipping his coffee. "What do we have today, boss?"

Hermione frowned turning back toward the papers on her desk. Draco watched her brows scrunch together.

"We got a whole bunch of new cases. Most of them quick, but there are a lot. Most Aurors have four at once. We have six."

Malfoy leaned toward her this time, reaching for some of the files. "Maybe Robards thinks we can handle it?"

"Maybe." Her tone didn't seem convinced.

Now Malfoy frowned, "What are you thinking, oh Brainy-One?"

She lowered her voice even though there was almost nobody in the office, "It feels like we're being throw off."

Lifting an eyebrow Draco considered this, "Someone is trying to distract us? We haven't told anyone about our progress."

The witch leaned back in her chair, "What ever is happening at least we're aware of it. Most of these we could probably do in almost no time at all." She took a sip of her coffee as she watched Draco wince.

"What?"

"These cases won't take long but the paper-work will keep up tied up. Maybe you're right, someone is trying to keep us busy." Admitting she was right still annoyed Draco.

Hermione looked at him seriously, "What do you think we should do?"

He quirked at eyebrow but frowned, "As a true Slytherin, I would advise we act as if nothing is wrong. We do the cases with a focus on the disappearances in the background. Some of these are from the cities the children were kidnapped." He tossed the files back on her desk.

"A Ravenclaw would probably ignore the cases and just keep focusing on one problem." Hermione smiled.

"A Hufflepuff would try to do the new cases while ignoring the old case," Draco smiled back.

"And a Gryffindor would burst into the department head's office and demand an explanation," she stated while standing up.

"Wait, Granger I though we were discussing hypotheticals!" The blond scrambled out of his chair to follow her.

Hermione knew that Robards was in his office. He got there earlier than anyone to delegate the cases. She stomped to his door and knocked.

"Granger, I think the point was to _not_ draw attention to ourselves." Draco reasoned.

She shrugged in reply and knocked again, harder this time.

A very irritated Gawain Robards answered. "What the bloody hell do you want?"

Hermione took in his red eyes, messy hair, and the smell of pipe smoke from his office. She slipped past him and took a seat at the front of his desk. Gawain was a stocky man, balding, and in need of glasses.

He squinted at Malfoy standing outside the door way. "Well, are you going to come in too?"

Draco walked in and sat in the chair next to Granger. He noticed she didn't look too concerned and tried to show that he was relaxed. As if barging into his boss' office didn't bother him.

Gawain closed the door behind him and shuffled back to his desk. He fixed them both with an intense glare, "I repeat, what do you want?"

Hermione sat straight, "Sir, we just got swamped by various cases and we have not solved the child disappearances."

Gawain coughed, "Most Aurors can handle multiple cases."

"Most Aurors have up to four, we have six plus the one prior. That makes seven!" Hermione countered.

The balding man sighed. "Miss Granger, it has come to my attention that the disappearance case will be voided. It isn't official but others have viewed it and even with your reports there isn't enough there. No bodies, no connections, no real crime."

Draco watched Hermione's face turn scarlet. He thought she would start yelling so he interjected, "Sir, we have found evidence that the children were connected. " He took a breath and glanced quickly at this mentor. She gave him a nod. "The muggle-children were actually muggle-born. Someone is kidnapping children with powers and we don't know why."

Gawain shook his head, "There is no evidence of that! Anyway those children could have run away, scared that their families wouldn't accept them! No body, no crime in this instance."

"You should get that printed on a shirt." Hermione huffed. "Children don't run away randomly on full moons."

"Ms. Granger...Hermione," Gawain's eyes soften. Draco noticed this happened quite a bit. The brunette had this affect on others that made them want to like her. "I know you are disappointed. My hands are tied on his, it's coming from over my head. We don't want to start another panic."

Hermione's voice shook, "So do what the Ministry does best? Sweep it under the rug and pretend it isn't happening? The next full moon is almost here!"

"I am sorry Ms. Granger." Gawain hung his head, but Hermione was already halfway out of his office. Draco was prepared this time and followed in a non-scrambling way.

He closed the office door behind him, grabbed her arm, and dragged her into an empty conference room.

"Hermione," he started but stopped when he saw her eyes. They were filled with tears, some had already started rolling down her cheeks. "Oh shit."

He still held onto her arm but didn't know what to do beyond that. He tried to think back to sixth year, how often did he cry in that second floor bathroom? What would he have wanted someone to do to console him? Draco started to feel her pull away to get some space but instead he gently tugged her back until she was in his arms.

She came up to his nose in height as he held her, her face again his shoulder. He felt her choke back a sob and he tighten his arms, resting his cheek again her hair. Today it was down and he was able to inhale her vanilla shampoo with abandon. He didn't say anything, he didn't know _what_ to say.

Draco felt her turn her head and mutter something into his neck but he got distracted by her warm breath. He could practically feel her lips on his skin and it took all his self control to pull back a bit. "What?"

"We're not giving up are we?" She asked quietly as if afraid of his answer.

He stepped back and grabbed her shoulders. Her eyes were puffy from crying but she looked just as beautiful. Draco was so close he could count all the freckles that dotted her face, "Hell no."

Hermione smiled and his heart felt light. She wiped her eyes, "Sorry I lost it there for a second. It's just all so," she threw her hands up in frustration to complete her sentence.

Draco laughed softy, "Hey if you didn't start crying, I probably would have."

"Really?"

"No, I'm not a bloody Hufflepuff."

She punched his arm lightly but smiled again. "Okay, time to think of a game-plan."

They hit the ground running with their new cases, if the department was keeping records of fastest cases they would have broken them. Between those the witch and wizard would spend hours in the Archives looking for missing cases or even cold cases that might seem related to the disappearances. They used the extra time in the morning to do physical training along with any extra time in the evening.

Draco was able to move faster and more fluidly. His casting was getting more powerful and he was learning spells that he missed during what was supposed to be his last year at Hogwarts. He was able to control his blushing but the pleasant burning never stopped whenever Hermione touched him. Writing it off as him not being touched by anyone in a long time he ignored it as much as possible.

"I think I'm ready for more advance moves." Draco commented after what felt like the millionth time he did a block, kick, elbow sequence. It was Thursday and he was getting a bit bored.

Hermione shook her head, "You have to master the basics first. It's what the rest of the style is based on. You wouldn't see a first year walk into Hogwarts and after a few days conjure a Patronus."

Draco frowned, "Can you conjure a Patronus?"

"Yes, Harry taught us in fifth year." She could tell they weren't going to get anything else done. That was fine with her, he was grumpy and she needed to meet Harry and Ron for drinks.

Draco studied the scars that were visible on her body. She had some small ones on left bicep, a long one on her shoulder, and another curving from her collar bone toward her back. He still worked out in a long sleeve and was a little jealous of her confidence.

"Would you like to learn?" she words cut through his thoughts.

He nodded and grabbed his wand from his pile of belongings. "Now it's pretty difficult, I didn't even get it on my first try. It's even more difficult to get a corporeal Patronus." Hermione continued her explanation.

"What's yours?" Draco interrupted.

Hermione showed a small smile, waved her wand and incantated, "Expecto Patronum!" A silverly otter swam out of her wand. It made a lap or two around them both before fading.

"Brilliant." Draco whispered in awe.

"You have to think of a happy memory. The more happiness, the more powerful the spell will be."

Hesitation showed on Draco's aristocratic features. What was his happiest memory? He could remember times of immenserelief but that wasn't the same.

He thought of the time he first flew on a broom and said the spell, "Expecto Patronum!" copying Hermione's wand movement. Nothing happened.

"Try thinking of the moment for a longer period of time. Let the happiness flow through you." She moved her hands through the air in a wave-like motion.

"Okay, okay. Don't get all Lovegood on me."

Taking a deep breath, he thought of the moment again and this time allowed himself to imagine the wind on his face and the feeling of being in the air. He waved his wand again.

"Expecto Patronum!" Tiny wisps of silver flowed out of his wand. He turned quickly to the witch next to him who had a grin on her face matching his. He wrapped her in his arms picking her up and swinging her in a circle. "Did you see that? I fucking did it!"

Hermione laughed, "Great work, Draco. You're a master of the art." He set her down gently with bright eyes.

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds before a cough from behind made them jump.

Harry held out Hermione's satchel to her. "Ready 'Mione?"

She smiled at him, "Ready." Then looking over at Draco she watched as the light slowly faded him his eyes, "You ready, Draco?"

The blond looked from Hermione to Harry. The green-eye wizard didn't say anything but crossed his arms. Spending time with Hermione and annoying the Boy-Wonder?

He smirked grabbing his stuff, "Ready."


	9. Chapter 9

_**What do you mean I writing fanfiction instead of my reserch papers and unit plans for work? I'm not avoiding the real world, you are!**_

They walked into the muggle pub all together. Tonight there was Irish music playing, the pub was half empty, or half full depending on how you looked at it. Harry, Hermione, and Draco found the redhead quickly, sitting at a table with three beers already upon it. Harry walked over right away, Hermione about to follow when she felt Draco tense beside her.

Wordlessly she linked her arm with his and they walked over together. She knew he was probably having second thoughts about coming but it was too late now. On their way over she signaled to the bar keep for another beer.

"Hey Ron!" She unlinked her arm to give her tallest best friend a hug.

"'Mione. I think you forgot to leave something at the office." Ron looked Malfoy over.

Draco made to retort but Hermione beat him to it, "Well it looks like you forgot your manners, so we're even." The red-head man broke into a smile.

Draco just said, "Weasley."

"Malfoy." Ron nodded as the extra beer came.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Really children we can all get along. Not like any of you are going anywhere."

Harry raised his hands up in surrender, "I didn't say anything. I'm just waiting for food and my fiancée."

"Been meaning to say congratulations. When's the wedding?" Draco asked, in attempt to be polite. He had to remember to send owls to his own friends.

The Boy-Who-Lived looked halfway suspicious, Ron almost choked on his drink. "December." Feeling Hermione's heel pressing into his leg under the table he added more conversationally, "Ginny wanted a winter wedding."

Hermione sighed, "She going to look so beautiful against the snow." Leaning her head on her hand she slowly spun her glass in a circle.

Draco stared at her, of course Hermione was a girl, but she never really acted or said anything _girly_ , it took him by surprise.

Harry smiled and leaned back. Ron shook his head, "Hey, you could have had a shot at this!" gesturing to himself.

Beer almost came out of Harry's nose, Hermione also laughed, "Right, right of course. Bicker until one of us poisons the other's oatmeal?"

"At least it would be a peaceful death."

Malfoy watched them be nonchalant about their break-up. It spoke volumes about their friendship and he felt that tug of jealously when Ginny finally appeared with a drink in hand. She hugged the Golden Trio but raised an eyebrow at Draco.

"Malfoy."

"Weasley."

"Déjà vu" Harry and Hermione said together, then clinked their glasses.

Harry cleared his throat, "Okay, updates everyone."

Ginny talked about her practices and latest game; they won. Everyone clinked glasses in salute. Ron explained new regulations and some deregulations. Apparently, some groups were trying to enchant muggle skateboard to float without wheels. Harry and Hermione gasped "Hoverboards!" but said nothing else on the matter. Harry talked about dark arts graffiti clean ups in some local villages and needing to fix the memory of some muggles. When it came to Hermione and Draco's turn they both glanced at each other first.

The brunette held up a finger and ordered another round first. When it came she gestured for all them to lean in closer.

"We've been kicked off the big case and buried under a million small ones."

"What the fuck happened?" Ginny asked twisting her engagement ring around her finger.

Draco shrugged, "What the Ministry does best, ignore it's real problems." He borrowed some of Hermione's words. He saw her smile from the corner of his eye.

"Look, we've haven't old anyone else this but we found some connections. The muggle children? muggle-born, but not registered." Hermione whispered.

Ron's face got suddenly serious, "But the school systems monitor that, to find them and send them acceptance letters. And the Ministry catalogs that."

Hermone shook her head, "We found traces of emotional underage magic at the sites but no records. I even owled Headmistress McMonagall, nothing. She also thought it was suspicious."

Draco rubbed his face, "We were told the whole case became voided earlier in the week."

"Shit, sorry mate." Harry seemed to forget who he talking to for a second before turning again to Hermione.

"You should owl Emily. See if she get one of her contacts in touch." he suggested.

Ron nodded, "You'll figure it out. You always do Hermione."

They all had a moment that for once Draco didn't feel separated from. That is until Ginny switched the topic.

"Going for a more cheery topic, Hermione," The ginger female fixed her friend with a beer-laced look. "Dates, any updates?"

Hermione blushed and refused to look any of them in the eye, instead becoming very interested in a knot on the table. She could feel Draco's eyes on her, why did she care so much about what he thought of her love life? She didn't, right?

Playing with the condensation on her glass she responded, "I have a date tomorrow night."

Draco felt his stomach turn to lead. She had a date tomorrow night? He couldn't help himself, "With who?" it blurted from his mouth. All eyes turned to him.

"The guy from the coffee shop. Harry, you know him, Daniel." Turning her eyes back to her glass.

Harry nodded, "He seemed like he wanted to ask you out for while."

Ginny slammed down her drink, "Okay, that tells us nothing. What does he _look_ like? Is he cute?" Harry looked a little offended but she waved him off.

Instead of answering Hermione buried her head in her arm close to Draco. Draco felt like leaning away from her but forced himself not to. He didn't have any sort of claim on her. He should feel happy that his friend had a chance of romantic happiness, he didn't but he at least realized he should.

"Oy-lay off the poor girl, " Ron came to her rescue and she gave him a thankful smile.

The topic was changed again, for which Hermione was grateful. She snuck a glance at Draco, he seemed to be listening intently to whatever the conversation had moved to, probably more Quidditch. He looked so regal, especially sitting in this muggle pub, with all her friends. They laughed a little too loud, or spoke improperly, or didn't sit straight. She hoped it wasn't awkward for him.

Before long they were saying their goodbyes for the night. Harry and Ginny apparated together in the alley next to the bar. Ron followed suit after giving Hermione a long hug. The witch turned to Draco ready to say goodnight to him next.

"You aren't going to apparate?" he asked.

"Actually, I was going to walk home." It was same as the first night they had dinner together. She enjoyed walking. The night air was cold but she liked looking at the lights and stars.

This time, however, Draco said, "I'll walk with you."

"You really don't have to, it's cold tonight, I'd understand if you rather go home." She rambled a bit and she knew it.

The wizard shrugged and cast a warming charm on them. "Which way?"

She smiled slightly, looped her arm through his for the second time that night and started walking down the street.

"I don't often come to muggle London." he commented after a minute of silence. October had turned into November and the weather from crisp to chilly.

With it getting dark earlier and earlier there were lights strung along the trees. People were still bustling about. It was everything Hermione loved.

"How come you didn't tell me about your date?" He finally asked. Still looking ahead Hermione couldn't fully read his face.

"I honestly didn't think it was a big deal. I even kind of forgot about it until Ginny brought it up." They slowed down by a couple of shops to look through their windows.

Her answer made Draco feel better.

"Anyway how's your lovelife?" she countered to get the attention off of her.

"What lovelife?" Draco scoffed, his eyes turned steely. "Not many witches want to go out with a Death Eater."

"You're not a Death Eater" Hermione responded quietly.

Draco gave a sarcastic laugh, "Tell that to my arm."

They continued walking until they reached the neighborhood area. It took a bit longer than Draco thought it would, "Why do you always walk?"

She smiled up at him, "The view is hard to beat."

They had walked far enough for the lights of the city to not intrude too much on the sky. Draco followed her eye line up and saw the star-filled night sky. When was the last time he really looked at the stars? To go from the twinkling lights of the city to the natural stars was a magical experience in itself.

They finally reached Hermione's door. Draco was surprised that she lived in an actual house versus a flat that most people of London rented. He raised an eyebrow at her choice.

"I bought it from my parents." she explained seeing his judgmental look.

"Your parents?" he manged to ask. He'd never even thought of her parents until now.

She tucked a curl of hair behind her ear, "I found them, returned their memories as soon as the war was over." Hermione smile, thinking about the reunion. "Turns out they love Australia, even took up surfing. They decided to stay, so they sold me the house for whatever I had my pocket at the time."

Malfoy chuckled, "And that was?"

Hermione laughed, "Some cat hair, 11 pounds, 5 euros, and a full pack of gum."

The wizard gently squeezed her arm, "Wow, Granger, I think you got the losing side. "

She elbowed him then let go of his arm. "Thank you for walking me."

He noticed her missing warmth as soon as she stepped away from him. "No problem."

Hermione took a step forward, Draco thought she might kiss him, his adrenaline shot through the roof as she put a hand on his cheek. She leaned forward and he thought his heart would beat out of his chest. Pressing her lips to his other cheek, he closed his eyes.

When she pulled back is when he opened his eyes. Draco gave her a small smile. She smiled back.

"Goodnight Malfoy."

"Goodnight Granger."


	10. Chapter 10

They didn't mention Hermione's date all the next week. They kept up their regular routine of working long hours and training whenever they had free time. It's not like it went bad, Daniel was just fine, Hermione explained to Ginny over the weekend. There just wasn't any passion-no spark. There was another kidnapping on the November full moon. Six children missing, Hermione and Draco looked into it without permission, another muggle family, another muggle-born child. Another no record or documentation of accidental magic on the child. Silvery mist, however, hung around the area, some signs of struggle without a solid trail. Hermione was developing bags under her eyes from researching late at night.

Draco seemed more professional and determined than ever. He kept up with their long hours in the office and in physical training, which he was getting better at. They did move on to more advance movements.

"You have to flip me." Hermione explained one morning. She had him pinned with her knees on his legs and arms holding him down. She was sitting on his stomach ignoring how toned he was underneath her. She had flipped him a bunch of times to teach the technique and he was much bigger than her, it shouldn't be such a problem.

He growled, "I could if I was able to use my arms."

Hermione smirked, the growl was cute. "Use your hips." Without thinking, she wiggled hers. She watched him close his eyes and breath deeply. Suddenly she was thankful for them training at odd hours. The room was deserted.

Suddenly she felt herself being lifted and landed on her back with a heavy weight on her pelvis. She grinned up at him but lost her smile quickly as she saw how close his face was to hers. His grey eyes were dark and only inches from her. One of his hands gripped her wrists above her head the other laid lighty on her stomach.

His weight wasn't uncomfortable. She could smell his minty toothpaste, fresh parchment, and some kind of pine spice. Her warm eyes searched his cool ones that had went oh so serious. Her breathing deepened to match his, not knowing what to expect next.

Draco seemed to snap out of whatever going through his mind and smirked, "Like that?" He kissed her forehead before he could stop himself and rolled off of her.

"Yeah" she replied a little breathless. "I think we should try-"

"Can't Granger, I have a date tonight." Draco stood up to collect his belongings.

Hermione lifted an eyebrow, "Mr. Malfoy, a date?"

He blushed a bit, "Pansy set it up."

A grin broke out again on the witch's face, "You contacted your friends."

"I couldn't be a hermit forever I suppose." he shrugged but appreciated her support. Draco was consistently amazed how much she seemed to actually care about him. He never had a friendship like it. Slytherins were loyal friends but rarely expressed it. As soon as he contacted Pansy, Blaise, and Theo they all picked up where they left off-aloof but comfortable.

Nodding Hermione went to pick up her bag, "Nobody wants to date a Boo Radley, no matter how good his heart is."

Malfoy sighed in exasperation, "You know what Granger? I fucking read The Great Expectations, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and even threw in there some Jules Verne for laughs. Just give me a list of your damn references."

Laughing Hermione counted off on her fingers, "To Kill a Mockingbird, anything that is Neil Gaiman, oh and let's not forget J. R. R. Tolkien. Inspirational, I tell you...did you read those books for me?"

"Well I can't have you explaining every allusion to me like a child."

"I am impressed. You know, there's going to be book signing in Flourish and Blotts tonight, Newton Scamander, himself!"

Draco quirked a pale eyebrow, "Trying to get me to cancel on my date?"

She blushed, "I have to watch out for my mentee and make sure these trollops are up to snuff."

They both laughed walking out. "Is it a blind date?" she asked.

He managed to keep impassive as he said yes. He didn't want to make it into a big deal but many women either wanted him for his money or were scared of him. Both made him nervous to date. Hermione has been the first person in a long time to get past his guards, hell he didn't even need to put them up around her.

"Fingers crossed!" she offered a smile. Draco would have loved to stay and train with her for more time. He would have loved to pin her down a couple more times. He would have loved to feel the curves of her body under him again.

Instead he muttered a "thank you" and apparated away to get ready. Hermione stayed behind a bit longer, she went back into the training room ignoring the feeling in her stomach. She told herself she was just hungry, not jealous as she went into an obstacle course by herself.

Later that night Hermione had two signed copies of Fantastic Beasts and How to Protect Them. She had gotten one for Draco, she knew he would appreciate it more than anyone else. Floating on cloud nine from meeting _the_ Newt Scamander she swayed down Diagon Alley. It was a chilly night but she was happy looking at the lights and seeing joyful couples pass her. She pulled her coat a big tighter as her eyes grazed the various window displays.

The witch passed by a new restaurant that had opened up a few months prior. It was very trendy and as she peeked at the menu, expensive! She was about to walk straight past, go home, and curl up with a new book to read into the night when she saw him through the window.

He said he had a date tonight, but he sat alone at a table for two. Draco Malfoy looked handsome in his suit that probably cost more than what she earned in a month. But his head was in hands, shoulders hunched. He looked...broken.

Hermione watched him for a second longer, maybe his date was in the bathroom, but there was no purse on the chair, no sign the other seat had been disturbed. Only his glass had wine in it. Quickly checking her watch she confirmed it had been quite a few hours since they separated. Her conclusion: his date hadn't showed. Some people at the surrounding tables were whispering and pointing in his direction. She pushed her "plans" of reading herself to sleep to the back of her mind as she took out her wand and ran it down from head to toe.

Suddenly her regular work clothes turned into a little black dress, her heels went up another inch and a half. Simple jewelry appeared on her neck and ears. Her hair tamed itself into a elegant bun. Checking her reflection she quickly applied some red lipstick and shrunk her books to put in her purse.

Taking a deep breath she walked into the restaurant. The host gave her a huge smile, "Madam Granger, how may I help you?"

Of course he would know who she was, she smiled sweetly and asked how long the blond man had been waiting. The host put a hand over his heart and gave a dramatic sigh. "My dear, he has been waiting over an hour. I do not believe she will show! Poor cher!"

Hermione cleared her throat, "Actually, I just got caught up in work." She shrugged as if it happened all the time. " I should have brought flowers. Do you mind if I seat myself?"

He looked like he would faint, "You?" Gulping, "Of course Ms. Granger, we will be at your table shortly."

The golden-eye girl walked over over slowly still deciding if this was a good idea. Too late now she reminded herself. She put a gentle hand on his back, his head shot up and he stared at her.

"I'm so sorry I'm late. I got caught up at work and then the book signing!" She smiled softly her eyes searching his, hoping he would follow her lead.

Draco looked her up and down. She was gorgeous, everything she wore accented her beauty and nothing overpowered it. It also didn't hurt that her golden legs went on for miles. He raised an eyebrow in question, confusion clearly shone in his steely eyes. It didn't last long before the idea clicked and he smiled.

The wizard stood up and smoothly pulled out the other chair and took off her coat. She sat down and he sat across from her trying to keep the surprise from his graceful features. "You look, fantastic." Draco finally said. It was hard not to stare.

Hermione smiled, "Thank you. You clean up well, yourself."

He smirked as the waiter filled her glass with wine. She held her glass up, "To new beginnings."

"Cheers to that." They softly clinked then took a sip.

Draco looked down at his glass, "I should have went to the book signing with you."

She reached out to hold his free hand, "What happened?"

With a shrug of his shoulder and without meeting her eyes he replied, "She probably came, saw who I was, then left. It's not the first time Granger, probably not the last."

"That bitch."

That earned a chuckle, "I can't blame her honestly."

Rolling her eyes she reached for his menu noticing there wasn't one infront of her, but he lightly smacked her hand away, "Oh come on, I'm starving!" She instead delicately grabbed a piece of bread from the center basket on the table that had been untouched. Hermione Granger can be the picture of grace when she felt like it.

"And I'm ordering. It's my date." He said pompously.

Hermione stuck her tongue out at him. "Oh real mature Granger. Have some decency." He threw a small piece of bread at her.

"What a gentleman." She gaped at him, then couldn't help but giggle as she threw a small piece back at him. He grinned.

"How was the book signing?" He asked, this time taking a bite out of the bread. He thought this night had been ruined. He had been about to leave when she swooped in like a warm summer night. He found the appetite he had lost earlier and ordered for both of them when the waiter reappeared.

Hermione raised a eyebrow, "Ordering for me now?" But Draco just smirked.

"The book signing was fantastic. Mr. Scamander was actually there, he talked about his relationship with Dumbledore and his role in taking down Grindelwald." She reached into her purse and pulled out something tiny. When she enlarged it, he saw it was a book.

It took him by surprise when she held it out to him. She kept doing that, taking him by surprise. It was a copy of Scamander's book with an extra autobiography introduction which was signed by the famous wizard.

He flipped through it, "This is amazing." He ran his slender fingers over the signature, it seemed to glitter. Then he tired to hand it back to the witch across from him.

She shook her head, "No, I got that one for you. I got one for myself, but I thought if anyone would also appreciate this, it would be you." She shrugged know she was rambling again, "Knowledge is meant to be shared, you know?"

Draco still held the book at a loss for words. She had thought of him when getting the book? "Thank you," he finally said quietly.

Waving him off she asked, "So what did you order for me?"

"The most expensive meal on the menu that was also meat-free. You're going to be the taste-tester, I bet nobody else has ordered it." Draco teased. He reshrunk the book and placed it in his pocket.

"It has to be delicious coming from a place like this." Hermione gestured to the restaurant. It was definitely high-scale.

The blond shrugged, "You can't judge from appearance, you should know that better than anyone. Isn't there a saying about books and cover?"

"You can't judge a book by it's cover." Hermione titled her head as she looked at him curiously. "And no, you really can't."

The rest of dinner was filled with conversation, laughter, and good food. Draco ended up trying Hermione's dish and grudgingly admitted it was amazing. Hermione had started telling stories of her worst dates and oh there were some bad ones. At one point Draco had tears in his eyes and had trouble breathing. He in turn had told her some of his worst Quidditch accidents, moving his hands to show the swoops and crashes of the brooms. Hogwarts was brought up, Hermione shared how Neville became a Herbology apprentice under Sprout and how well this new year was going. They debated about the books Draco recently read and about books they both read long ago. They did not talk about one single work-related thing.

He noticed when she got passionate about a topic her whole face brightened, her eyes would sparkle dangerously. When it was something serious they would get darker, like liquid gold. Hermione wasn't afraid to show her emotions and they were infectious. When she smiled, Draco caught himself smiling. His facial muscles weren't used to all this exercise and were starting to sore.

That didn't stop the feeling of disappointment when the check finally came. As promised he paid then stood to put on his coat and helped Granger put on hers. The couple walked out but then stood in front of each other a bit awkwardly. Draco could tell she was wrestling with a decision, but then made eye contact with him and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, I was thinking," the brunette said pulling her coat tighter around her.

Draco wore his trademark smirk, "As always."

"I want to show you something." Hermione's voice was firm. Holding out her hand to him she asked, "Do you trust me?"

This time there was zero hesitation as he took her hand, "Yes."

 _ **Yes, Yes, Yes. I know it's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but I thought, why not a sequel?**_


	11. Chapter 11

When Draco opened his eyes, he looked around confused. The word _disappointment_ crossed his mind. He turned to the witch next to him intending to get clarification but she was already leading him toward a small bench on the edge of a city park.

They were obviously in muggle London and on a fairly busy avenue. Couples and families were strolling past. There were a bunch of muggles wearing bright uniforms. They were working ropes around the sidewalk's trees. When Hermione reached the free bench, the wizard noticed that many people had found seats around the park and were also watching the muggle men work.

Draco carefully sat next to his companion. "I don't get it, " he stated bluntly.

Hermione set both of their hands, still clasped, on her lap. "You will."

Turning his attention to the muggle workers again, he realized that the ropes didn't just cover the trees, but also swayed gently above the street. There were glass bulbs along the ropes. A memory from Muggle Studies was pushing it's way through Draco's brain. Before it could fully materialize a chorus of "all set" rippled from the men.

The street lamps went dark, Draco squeezed Hermione's hand. His anxiety started to build-he didn't do well in the dark after the war. He let out a breath when he felt her body weight lean into him. Her warmth was comforting and he found himself leaning into her as well.

Suddenly thousands of tiny lights turned on: the streets and parked look as if the heavens fell to the earth to light the night.

"Wow," Draco whispered, eyes wide.

"Wow," Hermione agreed. He looked down at her. She had a small whimsical smile on her face. The lights reflected in her golden eyes, the next word to float in his mind was _goddess_. He was no longer disappointed.

Maybe feeling his intense gaze, Hermione finally tore her eyes from the lights and looked at Draco. His grey eyes and platinum blond hair brightly shined in the lights. She could swear he was an elf from Lothlorien, made of starlight. Her breathing hitched as he leaned closer to her, eyes closing, she titled her head up toward him.

She felt a ghost of a kiss as a child ran past them, squealing in delight. Jumping apart Hermione couldn't help it, she started laughing. Draco joined her laughter a couple of seconds later.

Sighing, Hermione leaned back again the bench, "My parents would take me here every year for the Christmas lighting."

"You miss them," Draco watched the other families. They were gathering up their children, ready to head back home.

"Terribly," Hermione confirmed. "Thank you for sharing this with me. This has been probably the best date I've been on in a long time, no matter how unofficial it was."

Draco scowled as she said the word "unofficial". He supposed it was, he was supposed to be with another witch entirely tonight. Did she feel as if this wasn't real? Was it even real? Was she just being a good friend and got lost in the moment?

His head swam with questions as his stomach filled with lead. "Yeah, same here," was the only reply he could come up with. His steel eyes fixed on their hands still intertwined on her lap. Did she think she was doing him a favor or that he was doing her a favor?

The need to leave overcame Draco. There were too many questions, too many emotions fighting through him. Earlier, he would have given anything not to return to his dark empty flat, now it was exactly where he wanted to be. Safe with no confusing feelings.

Gently pulling his hands from her, Draco cleared his throat, "I should get going."

Now Hermione's eyes clearly shone with confusion, but she just said, "Oh, of course."

They both stood up, the street lamps were coming back on, the moment fading. Draco forced a smile, "See you Monday."

"Monday, then." Hermione nodded. She watched Draco walk a short distance away then apparate when nobody was paying attention before turning to walk home. It wasn't _too_ late, there were still plenty of people milling about. Replaying the conversation she was trying to think of what she said that was wrong, or hurtful. Did she imagine the feeling of attraction? What if it was one-sided? No, _he_ leaned down to kiss _her._ Maybe he just got lost in the moment, he was supposed to be on an actual date tonight. Shaking her head to hopefully shake loose the thoughts of steel eyes she started looking through the familiar shop windows.

She passed by a little muggle book store, one of those independent specialized ones that was open at all odd hours when she froze. The witch took a couple steps back until she was in front of the window display.

The peculiar shop seemed to focus on the occult. Hermione had probably passed it a million times. She remembered being fascinated by it when she was younger, when she had only dreamed of magic. When she started her schooling at Hogwarts she knew most of this muggle magic was just wishful thinking, so far from the truth.

There in the window were some gem-stones, ordinary looking quartz and amethyst but they were advertised as being "charged by moon cycles." Hermione bounced on the balls of her feet as the dots connected in her mind. She ran into the bookstore.

* * *

At 6:45 Draco Malfoy walked in the Auror office expecting to see an annoyed Granger at her desk waiting for him. He had been apprehensive about work today, but the weekend had given him time to distance himself from his emotions like a true Slytherin. They both had just got caught up in the moment on Friday. Neither of them would jeopardize their friendship or partnership.

The blond wizard did not see an annoyed Hermione Granger, he did not see any Granger. When he got to his desk he did noticed a note. Maybe she went somewhere?

Draco picked it up and felt his stomach drop. The note had the same aura as the death threats that are sent to the Manor. With shaking hands he carefully opened the innocent looking parchment. _We're Watching You_ glared up at him. He dropped the note and wiped his hands on his trousers. Then, on a second thought he took the note, crumpled it, and stuffed it into his pocket. He looked at Hermione's desk and saw a similar note, but her's was red. It radiated with warning.

He took that one as well before the office could get too busy and crammed it into his other pocket. Where the fuck was she?

Swallowing down the feeling of panic, Draco spied a mess of black hair across the room. He quickly crossed over.

"Potter."

Harry's green eyes gave a half-hearted glare at the blond, "Malfoy."

Draco cleared his throat, "Do you know where Granger is? She usually isn't late." He checked his watch, 7:05.

Harry sighed, "She owled in sick this morning."

"She did?" Draco felt himself relax.

Nodding Harry replied, "Yeah, must be something bad. Wouldn't let anyone visit her over the weekend. Not even Ginny. Did you notice her coming down with anything on Friday?"

Draco fought the blush that was creeping up his neck, "Why would I notice anything?" He even added a bit of a sneer.

The Boy-Who-Lived fixed Draco with a deadpan stare, "Because you're her partner?"

"Mentee," He automatically corrected. Fuck. "Well, thanks."

Draco turned before Harry could form a response and walked from the office. It took everything to not run to the apparation point. The notes burned holes in his pockets. Granger not coming in?

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." He muttered under his breath before apparating to her home.

He stealthily made his way up the front steps until he was outside her door. Music was faintly coming through an open window, some type of bluesy-rock. Draco sighed in relief, she was home. Taking a deep breath, he knocked loudly.

Adding to the list of things he did not expect to see today was Hermione Granger opening the door in running shorts that covered almost nothing, a black band tee shirt, and hair up in a messy bun. Well, her hair was always messy so that part wasn't much of a surprise.

They both stood frozen to their spots, Draco fighting the urge to run his hands over her golden body. Is this what she looked like in the morning? He must look like an albino in comparison under this early sunlight. A deep blush was starting to stain her cheeks.

He broke the silence, "You called in sick."

This startled her out of her embarrassment, "Yes." Without warning, she grabbed his hand, pulled him into her house and locked the door behind him muttering a few protective wards. Draco didn't have time to take in much of the house as she pulled him into the living room. It was a sight to take in.

Piles of books were stacked around the room, different types of rocks littered the small living room table, new charts that looked old and unfamiliar were spread out along with tea mugs. He noticed the map that marked the kidnappings and the moon calendar were in the collection.

His eyes looked over every article before settling back on her, she bounced a bit on the balls of her feet excited. She had an expectant smile on her face and kept quiet looking at him. He picked up a few of the books and flipped them over. They all had titles like "Moon Magic", "Pagan Portals", "Myth & Magic, Craft & Recipes, Rituals and Spells" but they weren't anything he'd seen before. Draco looked at the author's names and realized he hadn't heard of any of them.

He whipped his head around, his eyes wide, and whispered "Muggles."

Hermione look proud of him but there was an underlying emotion of sadness, "Muggles," she confirmed.

"Granger," Draco sighed, "This makes no sense." He put the books down in their respective piles.

"It makes perfect sense Malfoy! Nothing else makes sense. Muggles think the moon gives them all sorts of powers, they charge crystal and objects from moon cycles," She argued and started to pace. "Honestly I was stupid to not see it before."

Draco looked around the room again, it was bright fall day. Cold outside, but the sun's rays gave the room plenty of natural light and warmth. It was very muggle, still photos, some small kick-knacks, and one giant bookcase filled to the brim with both muggle and magical. "How would they be able to carry off muggle-born children that were using magic? How could they disappear without a trace? How could they even know what children would be muggle-born?

"Their magic might not be strong enough if there was a big group and there was a struggle at every site. They could have sedated the children to stop them and take them away. Muggle transportation of course doesn't register. As for the last question, they could have someone on the inside. Wizards throughout history have used muggles to do their bidding." She was speaking fast. Taking a breath she finally sat on the couch, "I think our suspicions about someone working on the inside have more sinister applications than we believed." Hermione put her head in her hands.

Draco slowly took a seat next to her, the couch was over-stuffed and comfy. He wrapped his slender fingers around hers and pulled her hands away from her face. He noticed just how little sleep she probably got over the weekend. "What would muggles want with a bunch of children?"

Her shoulders slumped more, "Muggles charge objects to get what they believe to be magic from them. To empower themselves, but it's never permanent. These objects constantly need recharging." Hermione gestured to a couple of the books, "I think by taking the muggle-born children, they believe they can draw out their magic for themselves."

Steel eyes darkened, "Like a sacrifice."

Hermione nodded, "To turn themselves into permanent witches or wizards."

"Why do they keep stealing children? After one, they should have realized it doesn't work."

Lowering their hands to her knees, Hermione turned his over and started tracing his palms, "I don't think they tried yet. I think they're keeping them somewhere. In most of these books, the number seven in revered."

"Then we still have time." Draco tried to be optimistic, but was distracted by her hands. He knew she was doing it absentmindedly, gathering her thoughts, but her fingertips felt like fire.

"One more moon cycle and all of England is now a suspect." Hermione smiled bitterly.

"Maybe not." Draco reluctantly took his hands back and pulled the letters from his pocket. He handed both to her, "These were one our desks this morning. The red one on yours. Maybe we can trace them or something, anything. They have to be connected."

He could tell from the way Hermione leaned away from them that she also felt the threat. Squaring her shoulders with bravery befitting a Gryffindor she opened his first, the _We're Watching You_ almost made Draco shudder. The brunette laid it at their feet while she focused her attention on the red one. She slowly opened it then threw it to the ground as if it burned her.

There were no words, just a lock of familiar unruly golden brown hair.

 _ **The books mentioned above are real books and no, I do not own them either.**_


	12. Chapter 12

The sun was still high when Hermione stared at her own lock of hair on the floor. Draco thought she would start crying when her cheeks reddened. But as he looked at her eyes they were set with determination. A fire raged in her irises and Draco realized that was what Hermione Granger was: a fire. She was loving, caring, and warm but if something crossed her she would do anything in her power to burn it down.

"Granger," the wizard whispered. He reached out to grab her hand. Draco was upset about this to, how dare someone threaten them? Her? His blood was boiling, yet he was also nervous she would do something brash. He needed to be the calm one now.

She let him take both her hands in his, they were soft, warm. "I cannot think of a single moment when anyone I don't trust could have gotten this close to me." The gears in her mind were whirling, "Draco, who the fuck could have done this?"

Hermione jumped up from the couch and started pacing. "I hug a few people at the office, but I trust all of them.-"

"Granger," Draco tried to get her attention.

"Ugh-constant vigilance! How could I have forgotten! Where else have I gone in the Ministry?-"

"Granger," firmer.

"I did submit paperwork for the Magical Creature department. I was only there for a few minutes!-"

"Hermione!" The witch in question faced a now standing Draco. He was holding the two envelopes. "Tracers or trackers will work better than you pacing."

Hermione blushed before muttering, "Let me get my wand."

Draco raised an eyebrow, "You don't keep your wand on you at all times, Miss Constant Vigilance?" He didn't mean to stare at her shorts and had to remind himself to look into her eyes, which didn't look as if they wanted to burn the world down at the moment.

"Oh shut up, ferret. I would like to believe I am safe in my own home." She jogged up the stairs to get her wand from her nightstand. She paused and looked around her lilac room: everything was as it should be, nothing was disturbed. A sigh of relief was let out before Hermione bounded back down the stairs.

It was around lunch time but hunger was the farthest thing from their minds as they set to work try various tracking and tracing spells on the envelopes and even on her hair.

Leaning back into the couch the witch and wizard sighed in defeat. "Whoever is doing this is really covering their tracks, " Draco stated. He meant to keep his tone lighthearted but couldn't keep out an edge of anger. He watched Hermione from the corner of his eye, not missing the fact how comfortable they both were next to each other.

"Maybe..." Hermione took a breath and closed her eyes, "maybe the reason we can't track anything is because whoever left these behind, doesn't have any magic abilities. There would be nothing to trace, just like at the kidnapping sites. Magic traces magic, ergo, no magic, no trace."

Keeping his eyes steady on the woman next to him, he reminded her, "Only those with magical abilities are able to get into the Ministry."

Hermione Granger opened her eyes to his stormy grey ones. Oh how he reminded her of the ocean, calm, stoic, deep but get him angry and you might just drown or be thrashed upon rocks. She knew she might just do just that.

"Try thinking outside the magic box, Malfoy. Wizards think one way because everything can be explained or done by magic. I can change a mouse into teacup, how? magic. But in this bigger world we have a thing called logic, there's a reason behind everything."

"What so you're saying all purebloods are just ignorant?" Draco snarled, leaning away from her.

"No, but wizards in general don't follow logic. They usually don't need to." Hermione went into lecture mode. This used to annoy Draco to no end, it still often does, but lately it had a more calming effect. " A goblin, a magical creature, for instance could have left these on our desks. We know logically that doesn't make any sense. It would have looked odd and someone would have told us. They didn't magically fly in like the other messages because magic leaves traces. We have been trying to find non-magical kidnappers who are capturing magical children and messages suddenly non-magically appear? These are normal people who look like us, nothing looks amiss except that one big aspect. They are getting around it somehow; we're just missing the how."

The blond wizard nodded, "We know someone is helping them from the inside."

Hermione's hands fluttered, "Yes, yes but I don't think they left the notes either. They would be too worried about breaking their cover. They would have to use magic and there's-"

"No trace," Draco finished. A headache was fighting it's way between his eyes, they were talking in circles. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "So what do we do, brave mentor?"

"Nothing. I say we ignore the notes. We've been warned, we'll be watchful. We know they don't have magic but that they do have an ally who cannot afford to be caught. We have a month."

"Less than a month," Draco corrected.

Hermione grimaced, "Yeah, lets get to work then."

* * *

The next day found Hermione eating lunch with Harry and Ron in the redhead's office. She had filled them in on the threats. They, of course, went into over-protective mode which she had to smile and roll her eyes at.

"This is serious! Why are you smiling?" Harry whined, throwing down his fork.

"You two are just so cute. Acting like I'm a poor damsel in distress." She took a sip of water before shaking her head.

Ron pointed his fork at her, "You are a damsel, you are in a distressful situation. Damsel in distress."

Harry snorted, he and Ron high-fived. Hermione threw her hands up in frustration. "Why do I even bother with you two!"

"Because we love you and you love us," Harry stated.

Smiling sweetly, Hermione threw a spinach leaf from her salad at him. "Of course I do."

Ron twirled his garlic noodles around his fork. "Hermione, everything aside, this is getting dangerous. Someone got so close to you to cut some of your hair and without you noticing. We know you can take care of yourself, we'd honestly be dead without you. But..." he trailed off not able to continue.

"But whoever did this is, doesn't seem bent on world domination. Just on hurting you. So if you aren't planning on stopping your investigation, please catch the bastard fast," Harry finished for the tall wizard, his green eyes serious.

Hermione looked between her two best friends. How much they have grown since they first met, hell since they finished Hogwarts. Both were tall, strong, and charming in their own ways. She knew how much they cared about her and she didn't want to worry them. Speaking of grown men, she turned in her chair as if she felt him come on. Ron's door was open, but Draco Malfoy still knocked.

"I've come to collect my partner," he smirked, leaning against the door frame. The trio's friendship was something he admired but loathed. The loathing probably stemmed from jealousy but he wasn't about to admit it. After he had finished his lunch with Theo, he had gone back to the office but Granger wasn't there.

"Mentor," the boys corrected automatically.

Draco sneered, but without real malice, "Impressive trick. Do they get a cookie afterward?"

Harry stood, about to protest when Hermione closed the to-go box on her salad. "Actually, they get beer. 8 o'clock?"

The red-headed man grinned, "Worth it. See you Herms!"

Her eyes shifted over to her dark-haired best friend, his shoulders relaxed. "Sounds good 'Mione. Be careful," He pointed his fork at Malfoy, "constant vigilance!"

"Yes, yes, vigilance of constant. Got it." Hermione walked toward the man in the doorway.

Malfoy titled his head at Potter, "You have a leaf in your hair."

His eyes widening, Harry reached up to grab the offending spinach. "Dammit, Hermione!"

The witch in question didn't hear the rest of his rant as she grabbed Draco's hand and ran down the hallway, laughing.

They finished up early to train, there were too many people dueling on the mats so they planned to use a side room. It was smaller but served the same purpose. Hermione set up the radio and started her stretches but froze when Draco walked in. He wore a plain grey short sleeve t-shirt, which meant for the first time she was able to see the Dark Mark on his left arm. Or what was left of it rather. She had to rip her eyes away from this arm to look at his face, it didn't betray a single emotion: anxiety, nervousness, but mostly determination. He walked over to her and started to stretch as if he wore a short sleeve everyday.

It was faded, more like a dark smudge than anything-an ugly scar of the past. She didn't look for long this time, the fitted shirt was far more interesting. As he leaned, the end of it lifted up a bit exposing some of his toned stomach. Quidditch years and Auror training did him good.

"You're staring, Granger," Draco smirked. He had been self-conscious coming out. He hadn't displayed his Dark Mark to anyone since Snape, unless it was against his will like at the trials. When she didn't flinch, wince, make a comment, or run from the room Draco marveled at how much he has come to trust this witch. This beautiful, intelligent, strong, witch wearing those small running shorts and a fitted shirt.

He had to roll his eyes when she blushed, "I'm observing your technique. It's what good mentors do."

"Right. What are we focusing on today?"

"I figured we could do some dueling, practice your patronus, and if you're up to it I can kick your butt in pins," Hermione smirked.

"Hey, that isn't fair, you can't take my look. Stop this instant!" Draco protested taking out his wand.

Hermione took out hers, "Make me," she challenged.

Draco smiled a genuine smile. One that took Hermione's breath away, breath that she had to find quickly as he fired his first spell at her.

In a few hours they were tired, sweaty, and laying on the mats. Hermione checked the time, 7:00. She had an hour before meeting Harry and Ron, Draco's head was on her stomach and they were lazily tossing a ball of light against the wall only to catch it with their wand, throw, catch, throw, catch.

"Hermione?" throw, catch, throw. Draco turned his head to look at her. She was already looking at him. He had to look away from her golden gaze, and focused on the ball of light. Catch, throw, catch, throw, "How are you not afraid?"

Catch, "What do you mean?" Hermione leaned on up on her elbows forcing Draco to sit up as well. If someone told him he would be laying his head on Hermione Granger's stomach five year ago he would have hexed them. Now he missed the comfort of their close contact, it was as if some of her courage seeped into him, making him braver.

He looked at his left forearm. The mark he had taken out of misguided pride for a man he followed out of fear. Fear for this own life and fear for this family. Fear has influenced his life in great amounts. How did Granger have this threat hang over her and go on as if everything is okay?

"About what happened, how are you not scared?" he refused to look at her. At least until she put her hand over his mark.

"Draco, I'm terrified," she whispered. Upon seeing his confusion she elaborated, "Someone invaded my personal space and proved they could have hurt me whenever they wanted. I have no idea who. That kind of threat is, petrifying."

Interrupting her seemed like a bad idea but this was nagging at the young Malfoy. "Yet you act as if nothing is wrong. You had lunch with Harry and Ron, you're training with me, going about work as if everything is okay. It's like some intense Gryffindor strength." He didn't mean for his voice to sound frustrated but he could only imagine how different his life would have been if he hadn't been ruled by fear-if his family hadn't been.

Hermione laughed, "Yes, it would be nice if our houses gave us crazy personality super-powers." She shook her head, "No, even us lions feel fear. It's a normal human emotion, but it is important to recognize it and control it before it controls you."

"You make it sound so easy," Draco smiled, lightly pushing her. She playfully fell over with an "oof!" then rolled over until she was on her back again looking at the ceiling.

She took a deep breath before responding, "It isn't easy. Most times, doing the right thing isn't. I would have never gone camping with Harry, would have never found all those horcruxes, would have never fought for the light or protected my parents if I had let fear control me."

Draco ran a hand through his already messed up hair, "Damn Granger, you didn't have to get so deep."

Sitting up again she swatted his shoulder, he chuckled and they both stood up. "You should come get drinks with me and my friends tomorrow night."

Slowly raising an eyebrow Hermione took a moment to think it over, "Having drinks with a bunch of Slytherins?"

"Hey, I've been hanging out in the lion's den." The blond shrugged, "You don't have to, just an offer."

Hermione smiled, "Of course I'll go. I'm just giving you a hard time."

"Like a good mentor." They gathered their belongings and left the room. Draco and Hermione walked out of the office, into the hallway, and almost into Emily who was running past.

The brunette grabbed the woman's arm to stop her. That was the intention, however, Emily had been running too fast, spun when her arm apprehended, and smacked into the other witch who lost her footing. Both women tumbled to the ground in a heap of laughs. Draco watched the whole accident, jaw dropped, hands up. A gentleman would tried to catch them but he didn't want to get stabbed by a wayward heel.

Emily was clutching her side, face red, "Fancy running into you two here."

Hermione was trying to stop laughing as they untangled their limbs, "Shit, Emily, you came in like a wrecking ball."

This started a whole new fit of giggles as they unsuccessfully attempted to stand. "Oh honestly," Draco huffed as he pulled one arm on each witch but there was a smile he couldn't keep off his face.

"All I wanted was to break your walls!" Emily continued, doubling over.

Draco thoroughly looked bewildered, Hermione had to wipe the tears from her eyes. Emily took several deep breaths before finding her control. The blue/blond haired witch gave her friend a hug and then surprisingly hugged Draco as well. He widened his eyes at his mentor before hugging her back.

"Okay, what can I do you for? I have three more people to tackle today," Emily winked at them.

Hermione cleared her throat and leaned in, "We need some help with our unofficial case."

Emily looked suddenly serious, "You had a break?"

Nodding Hermione started, "Emily I need you to set up a meeting with Mr.-"

Her sentence went unfinished as Emily pushed both her and Malfoy through the nearest door which happened to be a supply closet.

"Shhhhhhh, 'Mione, the walls have ears!" Emily hushed closing the door behind them. Draco turned around looking. "Not literally! Well maybe literally. You can never tell with wizards, possibly made them invisible like those Weasley devices." She rolled her eyes.

"Sorry" Hermione dropped her voice to a fast whisper, "We need a meeting with Mr. X."

Emily gave an exasperated look as she threw her hands up. "Hermione, we're regulars. You can set up a meeting whenever you like."

The younger witch shook her head, "You've always been his favorite. If I try, he'll be suspicous. He's never liked me the same since I took away his pet unicorn."

Draco kept shifting his gaze between the two of them. "Excuse me, who is Mr. X?" he asked at a normal volume.

"Ssssshhhhh!" both women reprimanded.

Emily leaned in close, "Alright, I'll get you an audience. The unicorn thing was your fault. I'll slip you the time and day when I can. Make sure you wear the right...attire."

Hermione hugged her quickly, "Thank you!"

"I know, I know, I'm the best." Emily smirked before slipping out giving them both a salute.

"Okay, who the fuck is Mr. X?" Draco asked again.

His companion jumped, almost forgetting his presence. Draco didn't appreciate that. He also didn't appreciate how she waved him off walking out of the room.

"I'll explain later, we're late for drinks." Draco followed her.

"We? Since when was I included?" he watched her carefully.

She huffed angrily, "Draco Lucious Malfoy, you have been included for the last two months. We are late, do I need to drag you?"

He chuckled, shaking his head at his mentor turned best friend. When could such a thing have happened? "Lead the way, Hermione Jean Granger."

They left the ministry together, a little spring in Hermione step even though Draco didn't fully understand why.


	13. Chapter 13

Draco had his back against a wall which sported a thick layer of grime. There were red and green lights flying past his shoulder. He closed his eyes and turned his head to the right, towards where his partner was hiding. There had been accounts of "hauntings" and "possessions" of muggles in a village up north. It smelled of imperious curses and they got sent on the case. They had had a good start, the pair found the small group of three wizards easily, they arrested them _easily._ What they didn't notice was another group of four that had been in the basement.

They were clearly out-numbered but his mentor didn't seem concerned. Infact she winked, actually _winked_ , at him then held up the number three. A sofa blew up, yet he couldn't help but smirk. In three seconds she shot a spell at the floor that made it turn into a viscous liquid trapping the offenders and causing confusion. Amidst the shouts he shot out a few stupefys, she finished the rest with body binds.

He collected their wands and checked their last spells for confirmation. Overall, seven arrests and minimal damage: she had a shallow cut on her arm and he had one below his cheek. Hermione tutted when everyone was secure and rubbed her thumb over his cut carefully. When his finger followed where hers had been he realized the cut was healed.

The wizard's eyes kept drifting over to her as they were filling out the paperwork back a the office. He knew she was exhausted, she was trying to balance all their cases and keep up their research. Trying not to fall asleep at the desk was almost like a game now.

"You don't have to come tonight," Draco gently reminded her.

With her chin resting against her fist she glanced from her typewriter to him. She scrunched her eyebrows, "Don't be silly, You've put up with my boys. I will be more than happy spending time with your friends."

He lightly scowled at the words, "her boys" and even sent a glare at Potter's desk, which was occupied by the dark haired man writing frantically with a quill.

"In fact," she started adding the last words to the report, "I am...done! Are you all set?"

Rereading his report on the arrests for spelling mistakes, he nodded, noting one, and quickly corrected it. "All set."

They both gathered their things, her heels clicking along side him. They reached the apparation point and he lightly grabbed her arm. Unconsciously she leaned into his touch, a movement that seemed so natural that when they landed at their destination he wrapped his arm around her waist.

They were outside a small pub in Diagon Alley. It was off the main cobblestone street and tucked into a corner. Hermione suddenly took a step back, "Do I need to change?" both her and her companion took in her black pants' suit.

He shrugged, "I don't think they'll care." He answered honestly.

Hermione nodded, she was a bit nervous. As they entered the pub Draco looked around for his friends but also made a mental note of the blokes eyeing the woman he was with: he moved his hand from her waist to the small of her back. It was Hermione who saw Blaise Zabini, Theo Nott, and Pansy Parkinson first, she nudged him to the right direction.

He guided her through the slightly crowded pub to the table. Blaise unexpectedly stood up wrapped his arms around Hermione. Draco's eyes widened as his friend picked up _his_ witch and spun her in a circle. Furthermore he was shocked as his mentor kissed the dark-hair boy on the cheek as she removed her arms from around his neck.

His expression didn't change as he and Blaise exchanged a quick hug with a pat on the back. He kissed Pansy's hand but was still miffed as they all took their seats. Hermione and Pansy both politely smiled at each other.

"Okay, what the fuck is going on?" he finally had to ask.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Blaise, "You didn't tell him?"

The blood rushed out of Draco's face, "You two are together?"

Now Hermione's face shone with confusion. Blaise Zabini was tall, dark, handsome, and knew it. Stretching his arms above his head Blaise stared at his blond friend with an evil smirk. He winked at Pansy and Theo, "Oh yeah, almost what? 5 years now, Poppet?"

The corners of Pansy's mouth twitched, "Honestly, Draco, we thought you knew how close we all were. Hermione has been pure green and silver for a while now."

Draco's fist was clenched, his breathing became shallow. What was scarier than Hermione and Blaise being together was his reaction to it. Had he really missed it all along? He felt the familiar weight of betrayal and tried to calm himself. A blank expression masked his face as the table burst into laughter. The three Slytherins had tears in their eyes, Hermione was slowly shaking her head.

"Honestly, Malfoy," She got up to head to the bar to order drinks.

Unclenching his fists without letting anyone notice he turned to Blaise, "What did I miss?"

Theo answered instead, "Granger used to help Zabini with his Muggle Studies homework at Hogwarts."

Pansy nodded in agreement with Theo. She took a sip of her elf-wine and Draco almost scoffed-she was the picture of a pureblood lady. They had dated briefly during fourth year but it didn't lead anywhere. The blonde had then developed a crush on Theo, who was dating Daphne Greengrass, who was about to be betrothed to Draco. The whole thing was thrown in the fire when the battle happened.

He felt himself relax as he watched his coworker make her way back with two drinks. Of course she couldn't be dating Zabini, she had just went on a date with who-cares-what-his-name-was, he felt silly for being so easily tricked. It really must have been a long day. Hermione set a glass of dark beer in front of him and an amber looking one for her. Draco smiled in thanks and a bit in an apology for thinking she would keep something like that from him. The brunette smiled back and tapped her glass against his before sipping it.

"So, Granger," Pansy leaned forward tucking a blonde lock of hair behind her ear, "Please, tell me how is it being _Malfoy's_ mentor?"

Chuckling, Hermione leaned in as well. She gave Draco a side glance before speaking, "Not bad once you get past all the brooding."

Draco scoffed, "I do not brood!" He crossed his arms and in fact, brooded.

Theo and Blaise laughed, "Now you see our pain. Years of this at Hogwarts!"

"Alright, I think it's time to go. So lovely catching up." Draco made a show of standing up and reaching over take Hermione's glass but she pulled it closer to herself.

"Claws off, Draco." She squinted her eyes at him. He just shook his head at her with a faint smile. It seemed he couldn't control the corners of his lips.

The pub had a friendly and warm atmosphere, it was busy but not overwhelming. The female third of the Golden Trio felt content, was this not a sign of change? Here she was getting along with pureblood Slytherins, one of which had become a wonderful work associate and close friend? The beer was good as well, she had noticed that Draco often liked darker beers but the amber was just perfect. She learned back in her seat, comfortable.

Draco gazed at his companions as he sat back down, slowly rotating his glass he asked, "How the Prophet, Parkinson?"

The conversation shifted from each person and slowly evolved to telling old stories about school. The lighthearted feeling only fading once, when one of the stories involved a moment of bullying the same muggle-born who was with them tonight. There was some throat-clearing and a wave of Hermione's hand as she jumped into new stories of some of their less serious cases. Ones that usually ended up with one of them (usually Draco, Hermione swore) making a humorous mistake but always catching their culprit.

"I didn't fall down the stairs! I've told you, someone pushed me from the corridor." Draco defended himself but couldn't keep the grin off his face. "Anyways, if you weren't such a bleeding heart and just left the cat in the tree I wouldn't have had to go up the stairs in the first place."

Hermione rolled her eyes but straightened up as she looked across the room, "Excuse me, I do believe I see Dean Thomas, he works in the International Sport and Regulations department. I wonder if he's looked over the anti-hexing protection laws that were drafted last week. Pardon, I'll be right back!" She got up quickly and smoothed her blouse before walking over.

Draco slouched a bit in his seat as he followed her with his steel-colored eyes, that is, until he heard Theo chuckling. "What is it, Nott? Got something to share with the rest of us?"

Theo pointed at Draco with his drink, "You fancy Granger."

The man in question crossed his arms causally, "You've gone mental."

Theodore Nott was very intelligent. With his sandy-blonde hair and blue eyes, he could easily charmed anyone around him, men and women. They didn't become friends until Nott joined the Quidditch team in his fourth year. They worked well together and often didn't disagree.

Pansy gave a most unlady-like snort, "It's pretty obvious. Every time she moves, you adjust yourself. It's like you feel the need to keep yourself aligned with her. I've never seen anything like it. Also, this is probably the most I've seen you smile since...well ever. Smirks not included."

Giving a low whistle Blaise added one, "And with muggle-born Granger? Who would have thought it? A year ago I would have placed my galleons on you avada kedaving anyone even suggesting such a thing."

Draco looked down at his drink then back up to where Hermione was talking with Thomas. She was moving her hands around the way she does when she's excited about something. He had an amused look on his face like he's had to deal with years of this. With a envious feeling Draco supposed the man had. He wondered briefly what would it have been like to be Hermione's friend in Hogwarts instead of her tormentor. They did work extremely well together, and he did take into account how they could communicate without words in the field, how they bantered easily in the office, how she got his sarcasm and literary references. He also, if forced to admit, enjoyed going out into the muggle world with her. The blond shook off his musings and refocused.

"You lot are losing it. And here I was expecting you to be smarter than Crabb and Goyle. We're partners, that's all: you could work well with anyone when required to work an ungodly amount of hours together."

The three shared a knowing look but kept their comments to themselves as the former Gryffindor Princess rejoined them at the table. Her eyes sparkled and there was a faint blush on her cheeks. Surprisingly, she didn't sit back down but quickly finished her drink.

"I am terribly sorry, but I must be going. My conversation with Dean jogged my memory about an important case at work." She gave an apologetic look to each of them. "I was having such a wonderful time. We should do this again!"

Draco quickly finished his drink as well and stood up, grabbing both her satchel and his briefcase. The others also stood to say good bye but Hermione shook her head at her mentee, "Draco, you can stay of course. I don't wish to ruin your night."

His simply raised an eyebrow at her before giving Theo and Blaise handshakes, Theo turning his into a strong hug. When he reach Pansy, she also wrapped her arms around him. Such friendliness from Slytherins was an odd thing but Malfoy was willing to blame the alcohol. When the blonde woman quietly whispered in his ear, "Told you" he gave her a small sneer, but she only laughed at him.

They exited the warm pub and went out in the cold night, Hermione taking her bag from Malfoy. "I was talking to Dean and he mentioned the jinxed bludger from second year, do you remember? The one that broke Harry's arm?"

She was speaking fast, either to make sure nobody heard or because she was excited, most likely both. Draco couldn't take his eyes from her golden ones. They lit up and almost demanded that you listened. Hermione grabbed his forearms, possibly because he didn't respond right away. Bludger, second year, Potter's broken arm? One of the best days of young Draco's life.

"That was when Lockhart turned his arm into jelly afterwards?" Draco smiled wistfully remembering the day fondly.

Hermione smacked his chest playfully but continued, "Well that turned into a talk about rules, and therefore, of course, Filch!"

Draco sneered in disgust, "Of course, Filch. What natural conversation doesn't involve the Hogwart's caretaker." He took her hand and they continued walking to the apparation point, the brunette practically dancing on the balls of her feet.

When they safely apparated inside her house, she dropped her satchel and ran to a pile of files. "Yes, and what about him made him so bitter and resentful?"

Her male companion put his briefcase down and sat on her comfy couch. He wasn't sorry to say how attached he was growing to the thing, he even put his feet up on one end and leaned back against the other. He was so comfortable he didn't realize his next words until they were already out of his mouth.

"He was a dirty squid. A disgrace to the magical community."

The pregnant silence that followed allowed his words to register. Draco's eyes widened as he looked back at Hermione, the files held loosely in her hands, mouth slightly opened in shock. It wasn't long ago that he was saying the same things about muggle-borns.

Quickly jumping up and crossing the room he put his hands on her shoulders. His grip was firm, his slender fingers almost pleading that she didn't move away. "Fuck, Hermione, I-I didn't mean it like that."

She closed her eyes to avoid his gaze searching for forgiveness. "Even after everything, after all I've done personally or other muggle-borns have done for the magical community we still get discriminated against. Many still don't believe we're worthy-there are still threats, graffiti, propaganda circulating. It all stems from one group thinking they are better than everyone else."

"Hermione, look at me." Draco leaned his forehead against hers when she didn't, "I don't think that way about muggle-borns. My up-bringing included constant drilling into my head that purebloods are better but my opinions have changed indefinitely. I've seen all greatness you can do and what others have done. Hell, I've seen all the amazing things muggles have done without magic. I just..." he tried to put his explanation into words, "I haven't met or been around many squibs. That's wasn't my real opinion that just came out, just left-over spiel. I spoke without thinking, please forgive me."

He felt her take a deep breath and put a warm hand on his colder one. She slowly took a step back, he felt rather than saw her steel her resolve.

Holding up the files she still held Hermione explained, "Well, yes. Squibs would explain the knowledge of magic without the magical traces, plus the muggle means of trying to procure magic for themselves. They can get into places such as the Hogwarts or even the Ministry as long as they know how."

Draco gave her a weak smirk, not fully knowing if he was forgiven, "That narrows our search down from every muggle in England to every squib now. We should look at those with ties within the Ministry."

Hermione walked back over to sit on the couch, "It shouldn't be too hard to find a group of individuals hell-bent on showing-up pompous arseholes who have belittled them for ages."

Sighing Draco joined her on the couch, "I deserved that one."

"Yes, you did," his mentor responded while spreading out the files. "Now let's get to it."

* * *

There was a tinkling noise somewhere not far from him, Draco was sure of it. It wasn't loud, just suspicious. With his eyes still closed he reached for his wand on his nightstand-only his hand never touched it. Instead there was just open space and his hand hit the floor. Draco crinkled his closed eyes, his bed wasn't low enough for him to touch the floor. He continued to pretend sleep as he gathered as much information on his surroundings as possible: there was a familiar smell all around him-vanilla and parchment, he was laying on something soft but his neck was at an odd angle, there was a blanket over him and-yes, he could feel his wand in his pocket.

If he was still wearing his robes that meant he was wherever he was last night. There was another soft clinking noise and he stilled. It stopped and he continued his analyzing. He remembered the pub then going home with Granger to work, but he couldn't have possibly stayed the night. Slowly opening his eyes to the living room he was getting well-acquainted with confirmed that yes, he did fall asleep on her couch.

Draco sat up and rubbed his face as panic built up in his chest- that meant she heard his screams, his nightmares that he couldn't shake since sixth year that had only gotten worse with this time with Voldemort.

He always slept in his own home. Even those nights where he did manage to get a date he insisted to go to the her place where he can sneak out after having sex. His face flushed with embarrassment and shame that his partner would now know of his weakness.

"Good morning, I've made some coff-Malfoy, are you alright?" Hermione walked in from the kitchen, she settled down next to him and set the mugs of coffee on the table. She noticed his breathing changed to shallow breaths and could see his skin was red under his hands.

She quietly put her hands over his to pulled them from his face, "Hey, hey now. What's happened? I know my coffee can't be _that_ bad. I can make you tea, if you rather."

Instead of the expected smirk, his hands started to shake. Tears welled in his eyes against his will, so he closed them tightly. He had to say something, anything, words rushed out of him, "I'm sorry if I kept you up."

Hermione moved down in front of him on her knees to face him. She held onto his hands firmly, confusion was clearly etched on her features, "What do you mean?"

He opened his now reddening eyes to look at hers, to see if she was just protecting his feelings but there was genuine uncertainty. He realized he was probably scaring her more now and forced himself to take deeper breaths.

"I get nightmares, bad ones. I...often make a lot of noise at night." The words tumbled out of him, he had never told another person this, not even his own mother. He wanted people to know he was strong, that his past was the past, not that the past haunted him in his sleep. Her grip reassured him and he kept going, "I haven't not slept at my own place. I don't want anyone else to know."

She nodded and rubbed small circles on his palms that were comforting, he felt himself start to relax. "I get them too," she smiled nervously. "Mostly about this day," she indicated her scarred arm. Hermione sat back next to him on the sofa not breaking contact, he instinctually leaned into her and she put her head on his shoulder. "That war really fucked us all up. Sometimes I''ll wake up and still think I'm running from snatchers. It happens to Harry too," she gave a dark chuckle, "More than a couple of times we've both woken up to each other's patronus asking where the hell is the other."

"I was hoping that becoming an Auror would settle some of the debts I've created. That it would ease the nightmares if I start helping the world instead of ruining everything," the blond confessed as he leaned his head on hers.

Shrugging her free shoulder, Hermione looked at the watch she was still wearing, four in the morning, they still had plenty of time. "You didn't make any noise last night."

Draco sat up straight and let go of her hands. She instantly felt the loss of contact but covered it up by reaching for her coffee. "I didn't? I usually shout, hit stuff. I've woken up to splinters in my hands before."

He wanted to make sure she wasn't lying but then berated himself for thinking she would. Still, he didn't want her to spare his feelings. He watched her carefully as she sipped from her mug.

"A few, maybe whimpers? Some tossing possibly. I was also asleep myself." She felt herself blush, "It wasn't as if I watched you sleep throughout the night."

He smirked, "But you _did_ watch me?"

How could she not? Asleep, he was like a greek god, not a worry on him. They had both fallen asleep on the soda and she _had_ woken up when he made some small noises, but it mostly because she was over-heating. Yes, his arms were around her waist and, yes it had felt good, but she pulled herself away, put the blanket over him and went upstairs to bed. She wanted to smack that smirk off his face, how could anyone go some panic-attack to the most confident person in the world? Only the famous Draco Malfoy.

"Nevertheless, we still have work to do. There's a downstairs bathroom in case you wish to freshen up." Hermione stood with her coffee and walked up the stairs with a chuckling Draco at her back.

Draco watched her go and wondered vaguely why he didn't have any nightmares. He reached for his coffee, took a sip, and brushed the thought off. Maybe it was all the bonding with the sofa. He patted it fondly then got up to get ready.

* * *

 _ **OOoooh, thank you for the many reviews and encouragements!**_

 ** _I am sorry there haven't been as many updates, I got a new job and everything is crazy._**

 ** _Here's to another chapter!_**


	14. Chapter 14

"No, no, you have to _feel_ it."

"I _am_ , as you say, 'feeling it'."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "If you were, you would produce a corporeal patronus. You're almost there!"

There was a sigh of exasperation, they had been practicing for hours. Since waking up on her couch the pair ate breakfast and then worked on various cases, Hermione often reading up on old and new bills. At one point Draco started practicing his patronus and they switched most of their attention to that. Draco never went home, he freshened up using scorgify on his clothes and teeth in the downstairs bathroom then stayed to help. At least that's what he convinced himself that was what he was doing, not that he was avoiding his empty flat. Her home had became somewhat of a safe-haven, away from death threats and loneliness.

"Care to elaborate?" he raised a pale eyebrow.

She had her back against the couch, her house warm enough from the day's meager sun to wear her running shorts and Tolkien shirt. He had rolled his sleeves up exposing his dark-stained mistake. At first he kept his forearm tucked-in facing his body, but quickly got comfortable and forgot about it soon enough. Her own tattoo gave him an odd sense of strength, as if he could move on from the past as well.

Granger closed the book she was looking at in a huff, "To elaborate, the patronus charm needs a source of happiness. You obviously have one but it's either not strong enough or you're not letting it flow through you. You should be able to feel it throughout your body. Warm and happy." Her voice took on the bossy tone he knew and loved.

Closing his grey eyes Draco took a deep breath. He went from the memory of his first time flying on his broom to the Yule Ball at Hogwarts. He was realizing these weren't going to be good enough. The image of his mentee came to mind, she wore a little black dress and sat across from his at a dinner table. They threw pieces of bread at each other and shared little details about their lives that nobody else would care about.

He felt his body grow warm and waved his wand, "Expecto Patronum!"

To both of their amazement a silver shape shot out of the blond's wand. It flapped its' wings and soared about the room, searching for trouble to protect against. It wasn't very big but had a fierce look in its' eyes.

" A black bird." Hermione whispered, her eyes wide with wonder. The silver guardian faded from the room as Draco stayed frozen where he was standing.

"I did it," he whispered like her, almost afraid to move, to not break the magical moment. "It was a blackbird, what does it mean?"

He wanted to pick her up, hold her in some way to celebrate, but she remained seated and the moment faded as his patronus did. Draco instead moved to sit beside her on the floor.

With the mid-day fall light shining on her hair she looked warm, inviting, not unlike the memory he used. Instead of giving him a clear answer she responded with a shrug.

"I honestly do not know, my knowledge of blackbirds goes as far as The Beatles' song."

Draco tilted his head, "I am unfamiliar with this song...and band."

Hermione gasped, "Never heard of The Beatles? Honestly, and you call yourself a Brit!" She waved her wand and the radio turned on playing a simple tune.

The wizard leaned his head back against her couch and took her hand in his. He had fully given up thinking through his feelings with this witch and decided on doing whatever feels right. She didn't pull her hand away which he assumed was a good sign.

 _Black bird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly._

The mentorship was going to be over in a month. Draco turned his head to face her and found her eyes already on him. What would he do without her? Would they remain this close? Could he request her as a partner?

 _All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise._

Hermione looked at him carefully. She had watched him grow and change over the last months. He had become one of her closest friends but there had to be something more. She always trusted her instincts and the butterflies in her stomach weren't there by accident.

 _Blackbird fly, blackbird, fly, into the dark black night._

Their eyes locked, Draco lifted his head off the sofa cushion, Hermione leaned in. He pulled their connected hands on to his lap to shift her body toward his. She broke eye contact to glimpse at his lips, his tongue quickly darting out to moisten them.

 _You were only waiting for this moment to arise._

With her free hand she traced his jaw line, drawing his face closer. This was it, she felt it in her bones as his face moved closer. She could feel his heart beat, his magic caused her blood to heat up. She titled her head to met him halfway when-

 _tap-tap-tap_

"What in bloody hell is that?" Draco looked around the room.

Hermione sighed and stood up slowly extracting her hand from his. It was probably for the best, she ran her hands through her hair, she was his mentee. There wasn't a need for complications.

 _tap-tap-tap_

The song ended as Hermione walked over to her living room window. As she let the owl in she tried not to notice Draco putting his head in his hands. Should they talk about this? She even sure if they would stay this close when the mentorship ended. The comment about Squibs still floated in her mind, old habits die hard-what if his feelings of muggle-borns resurfaced?

"It's Emily's owl." Hermeione murmured unrolling the parchment.

Draco stood next to her to read the note over her shoulder, "What does it say?"

Brown eyes looked into steel grey, "Tonight, 10:00pm."

* * *

"Explain again why I need a new suit?" It wasn't exactly a whine that came from Draco, but it was close enough.

Hermione glanced around the sitting room she was waiting in, "I've told you, it's for our meeting tonight." There was another gentleman getting robes fitted a few paces away.

She had given the suit maker the design she wanted, the man measured Draco with his wand, then went into the back to put the cloth together. When the older tailor came out with the new suit Draco tried it on. It was different from his wizard robes and Auror suit. More fitted, dark grey which complimented his platinum hair, stylish. He had to admit, he looked damn good.

He heard a low whistle behind him and felt a smirk grow across his face. Draco gave Hermione a slow turn, "Like what you see?"

She raised an eyebrow while walking her own circle around him, "I must say, Malfoy, you have promise."

Spreading his arms out he looked her in the eye, "And a Malfoy always keeps his promises."

The smile on her face faded, not entirely but noticeably as a blush graced her cheeks. Draco watched her carefully, she seemed to be just as confused about her feelings as he was. She nodded to the tailor to wrap up the suit and Draco changed back. He didn't feel sorry for what he said, he meant every word. They walked out of the store into a bustling Diagon Alley. Usually the amount of people here didn't bother Hermione but today the cobblestone road teemed with witches and wizards. The alley was bursting and Hermione felt that familiar panic tighten her chest.

The tailor's shop was mostly empty, she thought, maybe she could go back in for a bit to catch her breath. Hermione grabbed Draco's arm to tell him, but no words came out when she opened her mouth.

His eyebrows drew together in a look of concern, "Granger?"

A few individuals around them heard her name and started to press in, "Is this _the_ Hermione Granger?" "Well she doesn't look alright." "She's a war hero, of course she's alright!" "Blimey, think we could get a photo?"

More gathered around, Draco felt his companion push her body into his and knew she was going to have a panic attack. He was ready to curse the gawkers into oblivion when another voice cut through the growing crowd.

"Now, now that is enough! Miss Granger needs her space just like every other living been. Please stand back!" A woman with salt and pepper hair moved toward the couple. Her powerful presence made the increasing audience adjust themselves to let her through.

Reilly Dogood took in the scene before her with sharp eyes: Hermione holding onto Draco's arm, both of them standing precariously close to each other, the witch's shallow breathing. "Mr. Malfoy please hand over Miss Granger to me."

The wizard pulled Hermione closer to him, they all heard the gasps and new whispers through the sea of shoppers. "Hermione Granger is with Draco _Malfoy?"_ "She must have said Malfoy, look at his hair." "What would she be doing with Death Eater?"

The older witch placed a gentle hand on the brunette's arm, "I insist. Miss Granger, can you hear me?"

Hermione was only able to nod quickly, she stole a look at Draco before leaning into Dogood's touch. He reluctantly let her go.

Placing one hand on her back and the other against her chest with a little pressure Ms. Dogood began speaking softly to the younger witch, "Okay Miss Granger, you going to breathe with me okay? Inhale, exhale, that's good, go ahead and close your eyes. Inhale, exhale. The rest of you spectators, the show is over, move along! Yes dear, inhale, exhale."

Draco watched them with guarded eyes, his witch did seem to be calming down but he couldn't help feeling useless. Whispers were getting louder even as people filed away and he knew it was his presence that was the cause, maybe Reilly Dogood was correct, he would bring down her reputation. He could see the how much this woman cared for Hermione, she looked at her in a way that can only be described at motherly. The package containing the suit crackled in his otherwise empty hands. The sound made Hermione open her golden eyes, she gave him a small smile as she placed a hand over the older witch's.

"Thank you, Ms. Dogood. I don't know what came over me."

Dogood waved her off, "My dear, no trouble at all. I was just thinking myself how busy it was today." She tilted her head, "What are you two up to on your day off? Surely not working on any cases."

Hermione chuckled, "Just doing some light shopping."

"I didn't realize how much time you two spend together." The tone was lighthearted but Draco slightly narrowed his eyes. He had to be nice, she just stopped Hermione's panic attack.

"Thank you again for your help Ms. Dogood, but we really must be going." He glanced at his mentor, hoping she would get the hint.

Instead her eyes held slight confusion, but always a loyal Gryffindor she followed his lead. "Yes, of course. Thank you Reilly, I mean, Ms. Dogood."

The women smiled at each other, "Of course, Hermione. No need to keep a young couple longer than you have to. If I could ask your attendance in my office Monday morning, however? I would love your opinion on giant outreach."

Draco saw passion light up Hermione's eyes and had to smile, "We'll be there-"

"I was actually just asking Miss Granger. Mr. Malfoy, I am sure you have more pressing matters to attend to in the Auror office." Her voice was not unkind but very firm.

The blonde was about to reply when Hermione grabbed his arm, successfully distracting him. "I'll be there first thing."

Sparing another glance between them there was a noticeable difference in her sharp blue eyes, on Draco-distrustful, on Hermione-warm and worried? Draco forced down the need to scoff. This over-protective Ministry official made him feel like a child. To put salt on the wound she gave Hermione a motherly pat on the arm and a stiff nod toward him.

"Good evening then."

"You as well, Ms. Dogood," Hermione beamed. Draco rolled his eyes.

Hermione went back to her flat to change for their meeting, Draco had gone to his to get ready as well. She kept checking her appearance in the mirror: dark red lipstick, shimmering eye shadow and a long sleek black dress, with a deep cut and leg slit, that dazzled when she walked. It was extremely different from what she would normally wear but this was a pivotal meeting, they couldn't afford to fuck anything up.

When the time read 9:45 she apparated through her wards to an alley deep in the belly of London. Not a minute later there was a another _crack_ beside her and Malfoy appeared. She checked him over while he turned his head around and sneered.

"You aren't going to murder me in this grimy alley? I thought you had standards."

"Not tonight Malfoy, but who knows what the future holds? I walked out of Divination."

He chuckled as he replayed the memory in his mind. "That old bat was a fucking nutter."

The witch snorted then reached for his hand. Rather than walking out toward the street, she lead them deeper to Draco's despair.

"You're telling me," she side-stepped some rubbish. "Too bad she was the real deal."

"Didn't she say you had an old shriveled soul?" he smirked as carefully watched a puddle of...whatever liquid-like substance was on the ground.

Swatting him playfully on the arm, they arrived at the top of a short set of stairs going down toward a dark-stained door. "If you were to ask, Ronald, he would confirm that very notion."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Weasel's density need ceases to surprise me."

Despite the jab at Ron, Hermione gave a warm smile to her companion. Draco had to admit, she looked drop-dead gorgeous tonight. He had to cover his shock in seeing her dressed-to-kill. This meeting with whoever they were meeting with must be important.

They walked down the stairs and Hermione, with her free hand, knocked on the door that Draco guessed was covered with probably 43 various diseases. With two quick taps, a pause, and one hard tap the door swung open. Draco interlaced their fingers, it was dark on the other side. Hermione pulled them through.

It didn't stay dark for long. The door shut itself after they entered and the room erupted to life around them. Draco didn't have a chance to control his expression as he took in the scene around him. It was a speakeasy, one that seemed to transport them back in time. Only the modern accents reminded them of the current year. Vampires with witches and wizards moved around the floor to a bluesy rock number that the live band, seemingly of muggles, was playing. He recognized it sounded similar to what Hermione usually listened to. Goblins and leprechauns played cards at different wooden tables located around the room, both with piles of gold by their sides. Men, and a few women, with scars made by werewolves leaned against the bar and sipped at cocktails. Draco even caught glimpse of a few women with flickering wings walk by. They were all dressed well and Draco was grateful for his new suit-anything else and he would stick out.

Feeling a tug on his hand, Draco realized Hermione had already started walking toward the bar, only she wasn't walking as she usually did. He noticed with her dress and heels she was swaying across the floor, dripping with confidence. He realized with horror he probably looked like a lost school-boy and quickly adopted the same attitude, as if he sees this many magical (and non-magical?) creatures gathered together in a deep underground bar every day.

Hermione quickly nodded to the group leaning against the bar, they nodded back coolly then let their eyes roam over Draco. She propped her elbow up and leaned on the counter, "Oh, Benji!" she practically sang.

The male bartender turned around from the whiskeys, a slow smirk came to handsome face. "Why, if it isn't little Miss Granger. What _do_ I owe the pleasure?"

Expecting a British accent, Draco was thrown off the slightly southern tone that flowed like honey from the man. He had perfectly quaffed hair, must like Draco's Hermione thought, but black as pitch that match his equally black irises.

Those eyes suddenly snapped to Draco and he felt as if he was being pulled forward, his feet moving on their own.

"Now, now Benjamin. Be nice, wouldn't want to tell Emily now," Hermione scolded playfully. The bartender's eyes softened and the blond found his footing. Grey eyes showed fury, Draco gripped his wand.

"A vampire, I presume?" Draco almost hissed. He had heard stories of blood-suckers hypnotizing their prey.

Benjamin gave a dark chuckle, "Incubus." Draco held his wand tighter in his pocket.

"Now what is a nice young lady like you, doing with a Malfoy, _ma cherie_?" he continued.

Hermione gave a lazy shrug, "You know me. Bringing down the patriarchy one pureblood at a time."

The man laughed a deep genuine laugh, Draco loosened his grip. Concentrating on his partner his anger slowly dissipated, he joined in the game, "You wound me Granger, and I thought I was so much more."

She looked him up and down with exaggerated slowness then went to wave him off. He, instead, grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her closer to him. She couldn't help it, she smiled and blushed. Now holding both of her hands he kissed her forehead, he could fucking _feel_ embarrassment radiating from her body.

"For fuck's sake, stop it you two kids. What do you need? Knowing you, Hermione, you always need something." Benjamin started pouring two glasses of whiskey for the pair.

The brunette stepped back from her partner and moved her hands to the bar top, she knew she was probably beet-red. "We're here for a meeting with Mr. X."

When she accepted the glass, the black-haired man nodded, "I expected as such. I'll check in the back to see if he's ready for you." Glancing at Draco, he added, "I'd drink that if I were you," indicating the glass of amber. They watched him disappear behind another door.

Draco picked up the glass and leaned his back against the bar. Hermione followed suit but pressed into his side lightly, he wound his arm possessively around her hip.

Gesturing with his glass at the room he stated, "This place is...interesting."

Taking a sip, Hermione smiled smugly. "You do love that word."

"Well, I think this situation warrants it."

"I like it here." Noticing his look of disbelief she continued, "Everyone here gets along. I mean there are disputes and I know its fairly seedy but you'll never see this type of civility anywhere else. Plus this is where all the information is passed. News, rumors, gossip, from all groups goes through here."

Draco thought for a moment, "If you come here so often, why did you need your friend to set up a meeting?"

"She's your friend too you know." Hermione sipped her drink again, "Mr. X likes her more. I, erm, buggered a few too many business deal of his. He's alright with a few busts- it keeps his reputation in order."

Seeing his judgmental look she knew she had to explain herself. "He doesn't deal with anything horrendous. If anything..." she sighed frustrated, "He smuggles things, mostly alcohols, potions, herbs, sometimes creatures. Not like out of the wild and into cages but the opposite. He takes creatures that have been taken out of the wild by morons or the ministry and releases them again. He gives us intelligence but doesn't want the people he deals with to know that obviously."

Draco just finished his drink fully unconvinced. She finished hers as well. "You'll just see when you meet him."

"All set, young love birds." They hadn't heard Benjamin return. They put their glasses down then followed the incubus into the back. It was dark again, even the noise stopped.

"Your ten o'clock is here." The bartender drawled then left the room, closing the door behind him. The room lit up displaying a plain office mostly filled with a large desk covered in stacks of paper and glass-door cabinets that looked empty on the far wall. Behind the desk sat an unusually large man to match the room.

The chair creaked when he leaned back, "Miss Granger." He was possibly in his early 50's, with large features, and covered in stubble. His brown eyes scrutinized them, "And Mr. Malfoy. Please have a seat." This polished tone didn't match his appearance.

He waved his wand and two chairs materialized in front of the desk. Hermione sat in the one, Draco in the other.

"Mr. X, we're here about the child disappearances. Six are missing so far and we need your help." Hermione filled him in on the full moons, that there were no records for the muggle-borns, about their hunch of squibs being behind it.

With a deep frown, he listened silently until she finished. "I see. Did you bring payment?"

Draco raised his eyebrows, payment? He was about to take out his pouch when Hermione took out her wand. With a small smile she started waving it in a delicate intricate pattern. Both men watched fascinated as grey-blue colored glass flowed out onto the desk, four legs flowed from a round body with a round head, a swish created a short tail and another curl provided a truck. A final flick harden the glass to complete the elephant. It could almost pass for real except for the glassy sheen and, of course, the size.

For the first time Mr. X smiled as he carefully picked up the creation. It took up half his palm. "I've tried to make my own but yours Ms. Granger, are truly unsurpassed. Brightest witch of your age. It almost makes up for all your other troublesome behavior."

She blushed. Draco looked impressed, he was tempted to touch the elephant.

"There were men in here about a year ago. Muggles, you know the type, not content to just live among the supernatural but wanting to be one of them," he set the elephant down with gentleness Draco though impossible from such large hands.

"We had to kick them out, too much of a nuisance. I searched for who told them how to get into my establishment. Turned out they were hanging out with a couple of squibs who have been promising powers. Give muggles magic, everyone's equal, that type of bollocks." Mr. X grunted.

Draco interjected, "We think they're going to use the children. Some how take their magic for themselves. Is such a thing even possible?"

"I can truthfully say that I do not know, and I don't enjoy saying those words at all. Magic is, complicated. It is a part of who we are, our families, our blood. But obviously we can never predict how it works. Magical families might produce children with no magic abilities, while a muggle family can have one of the most powerful witches I've met." The man's eyes landed on Hermione.

The compliment made her smile, part of the reason she worked so hard was to prove she was just as worthy as any pureblood. "Mr. X, what were the names of the men?"

Mr. X gave a dark chuckle, "I didn't get them all, their names were irrelevant. What was important was my message about staying out of my territory."

Hermione leaned forward, "You must remember at least one name."

Sitting on the edge of his seat Draco almost fell out of it when he heard, "Their ringleader, he seemed to be someone to keep tabs on-Elliot Dogood."

* * *

 ** _Loving all the love!_**

 ** _Here's to another chapter._**

 ** _I know I mention "bluesy rock" a lot in this story. That's usually what I'm listening to while writing this story. To those wondering or to know what the "mood music" is it's mostly Bishop Briggs, Jacob Banks, Halsey, Jaymes Young, etc._**


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:**

 _ **Hey all!**_

 _ **Really quick Author's Warning!**_

 _ **I know my story is rated M, but I feel people read rated M stories for various reasons. Maybe you got as far as this chapter totally content with cursing being the reason this is M. Maybe you aren't into sex scenes. That is alright-y with me, so here is a warning, this chapter DOES HAVE SEX!**_

 _ **If you aren't comfortable, you may skip this chapter- it won't ruin the story at all.**_

 _ **Some of you might be thinking, fucking finally. I get it. Happy Reading!**_

* * *

Hermione spit minty-white toothpaste into the sink, she was trying to process the information gathered tonight. Elliot Dogood was the new name. Dogood, is that a common last name? It was completely plausible for two people who are unrelated to have the same last name. How many Smiths did she personally know?

The pair had apparated back to Hermione's house in silence. She took off her heels and walked upstairs without a word assuming Draco would apparate back home on his own. She hadn't been ready to talk and instead just wanted to think it out. A long hot shower was what she needed to level her head and emotions.

Thinking there wasn't a connection to Ms. Dogood was being a fool and Hermione Granger was no fool. Maybe she didn't know about this Elliot, or if she did know about him maybe she didn't know what he was doing.

Something else that didn't sit will with her was Mr. X's mentioning of "equality". Did these people really believe that magic would make everyone equal? What about the lives of those their stealing magic from? She leaned her forehead against the cool glass of the bathroom mirror. She needed a damn cup of tea.

Sighing Hermione turned off the bathroom light then walked downstairs but paused at the bottom. There was a figure on her sofa, he looked up when she walked closer.

"Hey"

"Hey-I thought you went home," She stopped at the arm of the sofa.

Draco ran his hands through his hair, his usual styled look hung lose. He traded his suit for comfy sleep pants and a plain white shirt. "I did, I took a shower then came back. Wanted to make sure you were alright."

Hermione plopped down next to him, making the sofa cushion bounce a bit. "I'm fine, just," she gestured to nothing in particular. "I'm just processing. Planning what our next move should be."

"And what do we have so far in regards to a plan?" he looked at her carefully. He had no doubt Elliot was connected to Reilly Dogood. She did in fact look fine, refreshed after a shower and change into comfy plaid pajamas and a The Catcher in the Rye tee. Rolling his eyes would be sure to offend her so he fought the urge.

"Bubkis. Honestly it's most likely for the better, Harry says all our plans usually go to shit," she smiled. Harry and the Weasleys have been so busy with the wedding so near. She barely saw them anymore unless it was related to the big day or lunch at work.

Draco actually laughed, "I've noticed. Chaos seems to follow you three."

"Chaos is a good friend of ours, yes." Hermione shook her head, "I was going to make some tea, you should go home, get some rest."

"I actually, uh-" he cleared his throat. "I could go for a cup of tea myself, if you don't mind."

She lifted an eyebrow but didn't comment. Instead she stood and walked into the kitchen to put the kettle on. He followed her in and found two mugs.

"Where is your tea?" he asked opening a few cabinets without permission.

His confidence astounded her, he acted as if this was his house. "Right-hand side, Mr. I-Own-Everything-Around-Me."

The blond smirked, he found a few jars of different loose-leaf tea and a strainer. "Does that mean I own you?"

Hermione fixed him with a stare, "I am not property, nor is any living creature."

Opening one of the jars to smell the leaves Draco made a face, "No, besides I wouldn't want to own such a bossy know-it-all."

"Well where do I trade in my pointy-face mentee?" She teased leaning against the counter.

Draco put down the jar, "Oh, you don't like my pointy face. Is that it now, Granger?" He stepped toward her.

He was close enough that she had to tilt her head up to keep eye contact. The usual light silver was turning darker. "Care so much of the opinion of a bossy know-it-all, Malfoy?" she countered.

"Not when this know-it-all can barely control her mane of bushy hair." He lifted a lock of her hair, it wasn't as bushy as it once was but he wouldn't admit that to her face. Hermione's golden eyes sparked and he knew she was getting ready to argue back. His hand moved from her hair to trace her jaw line.

Whatever Hermione was going to retort was lost as she took in a sharp breath, he watch her golden eyes start to close as he gently pressed his body against hers trapping her against the counter. He leaned down and grazed her lips with his.

The whistling of the tea kettle cut through the kitchen like a knife.

"For fuck's sake!" Draco reached over, snapped the knob to 'off' then turned his face back to Hermione. He put his hand on the back of her neck to pull her close and pressed his lips to hers in a firm kiss.

She put her arms around his neck to draw his body closer and he moved his hands to grip her hips. Draco traced her bottom lip with the tip of his tongue for permission which she readily granted. He explored her mouth and allowed her to explore his.

He tasted like spearmint and she sighed with contentment into the next kiss making him growl. His hands slid under her arse and he lifted her up onto the counter, her legs wrapping around his middle. Hermione reached down to tug the bottom of his shirt then pull it up. Draco leaned back for second to make it easier then swooped back in to devour her mouth. The fresh vanilla and lavender smell of her hair clouded his senses and he craved her skin.

He traced kisses from her mouth, down her jaw, only pausing to nip at her ear, until he found her neck. They were both breathing heavily when he felt her pull away. The blond couldn't help the groan that escaped from his throat at the lost of contact. Draco straightened up but Hermione kept her legs around him.

She carefully traced the long three scars on his body, one across his chest, one ran horizontal on his abdomen, and the last vertical down his side.

"Are these the scars Harry gave you?" She whispered.

He closed his eyes to her touch and leaned his forehead on hers. "Yes. It wasn't the first time I thought I was going to die, but it was the first time I hoped I would."

Giving him a sad smile, Hermione moved her hands to run her fingers through his hair as she'd seen him do so many times. "Well, I'm glad you didn't. Look at all the good you've been doing."

"Do you honestly think I've been doing good?"

"I want to say yes, but who cares about the opinion of a bushy-head-know-it-all?" She smirked.

He wanted to kiss that smirk off her damn beautiful flushed faced. So he did. She moaned into his mouth and he almost ripped her shirt trying to pull it off of her. Of course she wasn't wearing a bra, he pressed her chest to him. Making sure he had a good hold on her, he took his witch off the kitchen counter and started walking toward the stairs.

The stairs were inconveniently located across the living room which was difficult to navigate while snogging. After bumping into a table, the sofa, and almost dropping her once, he made it. Luckily all their training put Draco in the best shape he's ever been, he was able to carry her up the stairs, only breaking their kiss to ask, "Which door?"

"Second on the left," she muttered kissing his neck and eliciting another growl from his throat.

Draco opened the door, found her bed, and laid Hermione down unlocking her legs from him. Both of them took-in the other, before he moved to tug down her pajama pants revealing her toned golden legs. He didn't mean to stare, she was beautiful, he licked his lips. She sat up to slip her fingers under the band of his pants. Hermione made sure to kiss each scar before they were fully off.

He leaned over to kiss her again and pushed her back down, laying himself above her. Running a hand from her thigh up to her breasts and back made her arch her back into him. She deepened the kiss and lightly scratched her nails down his back. She could feel every muscle against him, she was sure the pounding in her chest was from both of them.

When his hand came back up he rolled her nipple between his slender fingers, she moaned and he knew he was as lost as his other hand in her hair. Draco used his knee to spread her legs to create more room for him. She read his encouragement perfectly and wrapped herself around his legs. He almost grinned, even during sex they worked in sync.

A gasp tore from her throat when he exchanged his hand for his mouth on her breast. He licked her hard nipple then took it in to suck. When he moved to the other she buckled her hips and he matched her moans. "Fuck, Hermione."

He reached his hand down and stroked her slightly dipping into her entrance. She moaned his name and Draco had to bury his face in the crook of her neck to control himself as she rubbed against him. Hermione reached down to his hardened member to replace his fingers and rubbed his length against herself. He gasped feeling how wet she had gotten.

Draco grabbed her hand and interlaced their fingers above her head. She kissed him hard noting how both their lips were probably bruised. He lined himself up to enter her, he could feel how ready was when she abruptly pulled away.

"Hermione?"

"Two seconds!"

She groped with her free hand around her bedside table until she found her wand. She waved it over her stomach then tossed it back near her clock. Draco chuckled and kissed her softly. When she lifted her hips toward him again he lined himself up a second time.

He pushed in slowly, first the head but stopped when Hermione sharply inhaled. After a nod from her, he continued. Grabbing her other hand, he made sure both were contain in his bigger one against the pillow. His second hand securing her hip as he entered her fully. Pausing to to let her adjust to him he waited for her signal.

"Draco," she half whined. He couldn't help the smirk but it quickly left as he started to move. Hermione couldn't think as she matched his deep strokes, she let him set the pace but met him halfway. He started to move faster and she could feel the coil in her stomach tighten. He straightened up and pulled her body closer to get a better angle.

He slowed down and made sure every thrust filled her completely before speeding up again, his heat was building, he knew he would come soon. He moaned her name hoping she would understand him, "Hermione."

The coil in her snapped and he felt her tense around him, the sweetest sound was her screaming out his name, he moved through her orgasm, the pressure resulting in his own. He released her hands when he called out her name instead holding onto her hips.

Fighting the urge to collapse next to her he instead dropped his forehead to hers, she closed the gap and kissed him slow and sweet. Draco put his arms around her and without warning flipped them so she was on top producing a squeal that made him grin. He held her tightly against him pressing his face to her hair to breathe her in. Hermione made herself comfortable laying her head on his shoulder. With both of them covered with a layer of sweat she waved her hand to _scourgify_ them.

"Hermione?" Draco was starting to close his eyes. She hummed contently to let him know she was listening.

"Your hair isn't that bushy," he muttered. She smiled against his skin and he feel asleep to the smell of vanilla and lavender.


End file.
